Identification of potential human urinary biomarkers for tomato juice intake by mass spectrometry-based metabolomics.

Steroidal glycoalkaloids in tomato juice are cleaved after ingestion, and hydroxylated and sulfonated metabolites of their aglycones might serve as urinary biomarkers for tomato juice intake. Similarly, β-carboline alkaloids and glucuronidated derivatives were identified as potential urinary biomarkers. Both the aglycones of the steroidal alkaloids and the β-carboline alkaloids might exhibit biological activities worth investigating.