Orange Juice, Hesperidin and Their Role in Vascular Health Benefit

Although epidemiological studies have associated the consumption of sugary beverages with adverse health effects, experimental studies have demonstrated that the metabolic response of the human body to fruit juice as compared to artificial beverages is substantially different. Fruit juices do not just provide sugars and related calories, but they are rich sources of bioactive compounds especially of flavonoids. Flavanones constitute a class of flavonoids that are specifically and abundantly found in citrus fruits, with hesperidin being the major compound in orange. From prospective cohort studies, higher intakes of flavanones are associated with a lower incidence of mortality by cardiovascular disease (CVD). This relation is supported by results from a number of animal studies demonstrating a slowdown in atherosclerosis development and vascular protective effects in dietary interventions with flavanones. Randomized, controlled clinical trials to corroborate the suggested vasculo-protective effects of orange juice presumably mediated by the flavanones are scarce and available data do not allow to draw firm conclusions about their efficacy. To fill this gap, the "HESPER-HEALTH study" conducted in humans will assess the vascular protective effects of 100% orange juice consumption and evaluate the contribution of hesperidin in these effects.