Urine metabolome profiling reveals imprints of food heating processes after dietary intervention with differently cooked potatoes

Heat treatment is a widely used method for food processing, and the compounds formed by heat-processes may serve as biomarkers of heated food intake in nutrition studies. Therefore, we aimed to characterize the differential metabolic signatures resulting from intake of different potato products and identify potential intake biomarkers. In a randomized, controlled, cross-over meal study, healthy volunteers consumed: boiled rice, boiled potatoes, and 2 deep-fried potato products, potato chips and French fries. The urine metabolome was acquired by LC-MS-based untargeted metabolomics. Twenty-two selected metabolites were found for deep-fried potatoes, two for potato intake in general and one for boiled rice. Fourteen of the 22 selected metabolites were tentatively identified as furan-, pyrrole- and pyrazine- derived compounds indicative of Maillard reactions. With further validation these candidate biomarkers will be important tools to investigate the influence of heated foods on human health.