Production of hydrogen peroxide in formulated beverages is associated with the presence of ascorbic acid combined with selected redox-active functional ingredients

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is a reactive oxygen species (ROS) that mediates essential signaling in vivo but may cause irreversible tissue damage under dysregulated or acute exposure conditions. Beverages containing redox-active compounds might produce H₂O₂ during shelf storage and potentially be consumed. Concentrations of H₂O₂ in selected ‘functional’ (including energy, E, n = 28), ‘non-functional’ flavored, (S, n = 6) and mineral water (W, n = 6) drinks were measured under ambient (i.e., produced in situ) and ‘potentiated’ conditions (i.e., H₂O₂ production enhanced by addition of a reducing agent, to simulate availability of reducible substrates in vivo). Under air-saturated conditions, mean H₂O₂ contents were: 15.60 ± 15.84; 1.39 ± 2.06 and 0.30 ± 0.21 µM in E, S and W drinks, respectively. Under air-saturated, potentiated conditions, mean rates of H₂O₂ production were 21.7 ± 33.3, 0.98 ± 2.84, and −0.38 ± 1.18 µM/h for E, S and W drinks, respectively. Using multivariate statistics, the ingredient significantly associated with H₂O₂ production in combination with other ingredients was found to be ascorbic acid.