Validation of a New LC-MS/MS Method for the Detection and Quantification of Phenolic Metabolites from Tomato Sauce in Biological Samples

Tomato is a good source of bioactive molecules such as vitamin C, carotenoids, and phenolic compounds. Up to now, only a few studies have evaluated the bioavailability of phenolic compounds from tomato. This paper presents the optimization of a method for the determination of phenolics in tomato and their metabolites in human urine and plasma after ingestion of tomato sauce. The sample preparation includes a SPE step to obtain cleaner extracts for injection in the LC-MS/MS system. The mean recovery of analytes ranged from 73 to 104% in plasma and from 65 to 106% in urine, the accuracy was between 90.3 and 115.0% in urine and between 85.7 and 115.0% in plasma, and the precision coefficient of variation was <15%. The method allowed detection and quantification limits of 0.5-29 and 2.0-90 ng mL(-1) in urine, respectively, and 0.5-30 and 2.0-105 ng mL(-1) in plasma, respectively, for the same phenolic compounds.