Analysis of polyphenols and xanthines in yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) infusions by high-pressure extraction and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

Yerba mate infusions are highly consumed and increasingly popular in the world. The evaluation of their chemical profiles representing the actual dietary intake may present analytical and interpretation challenges due to the diversity of available products, their drinking procedures, and transfer rates of the compounds into the infusions. There is a general interest in assessing the amounts of polyphenols in human diets to evaluate their potential health-promoting benefits. Thus, the objective of this work was to provide a fast and robust method for the analysis of infusions of yerba mate to evaluate teas with different particle sizes, degree of processing and type. A simple extraction using an espresso machine and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (UHPLC-DAD) was developed and validated for the determination of theobromine, caffeine, caffeoylquinic and dicaffeoylquinic acids in yerba mate infusions. The chemical profiles of twenty-six yerba mate samples reflected their industrial processes. The dietary intake and the ratio of chlorogenic acids to caffeine of yerba mate was evaluated for different products (aged, green, and roasted yerba mate). The new method proved to be a fast, simple, and fit-for-purpose procedure for the aqueous extraction and determination of bioactive compounds in yerba mate products.