CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 50Exercise and Physiological ResponsesMuscle metabolism and nutritionSports Performance and Training

Biochemical, physiological, and performance response of a functional watermelon juice enriched in L-citrulline during a half-marathon race

Open access
Martínez-Sánchez, Ascensión, Ramos-Campo, Domingo J., Fernández-Lobato, Bárbara, Rubio-Arias, Jacobo A., Alacid, Fernando, Aguayo, Encarna·2017·Food & Nutrition Research
DOI 10.1080/16546628.2017.1330098PMC PMC5475291
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Background : Watermelon is a rich natural source of l -citrulline. This non-essential amino acid increases exercise performance. Objective : Evaluate the effect of Fashion watermelon juice enriched in l -citrulline (CWJ) (3.45 g per 500 mL) in physical performance and biochemical markers after a half-marathon race. Design : A randomised, double blind, crossover design where 2 h after drinking 500 mL of CWJ or placebo (PLA, beverage without l -citrulline) amateur male runners performed two half-marathon races. Jump height, heart rate and rating of perceived exertion were evaluated before and after the races. Moreover, muscle soreness and plasma markers of muscle damage and metabolism were evaluated for 72 h after the races. Results : Muscle soreness perception was significantly lower from 24 to 72 h after the race with CWJ beverage. Immediately after the races, runners under CWJ condition showed plasma lactate and glucose concentrations significantly lower and higher lactate dehydrogenase and l -arginine concentration than runners under PLA. A maintenance of jump heights after the races under CWJ supplementation was found, decreasing significantly with PLA. Conclusion : A single Fashion watermelon juice enriched in l -citrulline dose diminished muscle soreness perception from 24 to 72 h after the race and maintained lower concentrations of plasma lactate after an exhausting exercise.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1080/16546628.2017.1330098

Cites

9 of 9 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • A double-blind, crossover, randomized study with 36 male players tested beet juice at 6 mmol NO3- for 5 days using Yo-Yo tests and showed significantly better improvement (+4%) in performance.

    “A double-blind, crossover, randomized study with 36 male players tested supplementation with beet juice at 6 mmol NO 3for a high-performance team sport for 5 days using Yo-Yo tests, and the results showed significantly better improvement (+4%) in the athletes' performance [46].”

    From Dietary and Ergogenic Supplementation to Improve Elite Soccer Players’ Performance (2021) · cites this paper as [46]

    The Methods (pages unavailable) describe a randomized, double-blind crossover study, but it involved 21 amateur male runners given L-citrulline-enriched watermelon juice before half-marathons—not 36 team-sport players given beet juice for five days. The Discussion reports no significant difference in half-marathon times between the juice and placebo conditions, contrary to the claimed significant 4% performance improvement. (LLM, conf=0.91)

    Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 42

  1. [1]Bescós R, Sureda A, Tur JA, et al The effect of nitric-oxide-related supplements on human performance. Sports Med. 2012; 42: 99– 12. DOI: 10.2165/11596860-000000000-00000 22260513 · DOI · Paper page
  2. [2]Curis E, Nicolis I, Moinard C, et al Almost all about citrulline in mammals. Amino Acids. 2005; 29: 177– 205. DOI: 10.1007/s00726-005-0235-4 16082501 · DOI · Paper page
  3. [5]Petrovic V, Buzadzic B, Korac A, et al Antioxidative defence alterations in skeletal muscle during prolonged acclimation to cold: role of l-arginine/NO-producing pathway. J Exp Biol. 2008; 211: 114– 120. 18083739
  4. [6]Meneguello MO, Mendoca JR, Lancha AH, et al Effect of arginine, ornithine and citrulline supplementation upon performance and metabolism of trained rats. Cell Biochem Funct. 2003; 21: 85– 91. 12579527
  5. [7]Mutch BJ, Banister EW. Ammonia metabolism in exercise and fatigue: a review. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1983; 15: 41– 50. 6341752
  6. [8]Takeda K, Machida M, Kohara A, et al Effects of citrulline supplementation on fatigue and exercise performance in mice. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol. 2011; 57: 246– 250. 21908948
  7. [9]Urdampilleta A, Armentia I, Gómez-Zorita S, et al La fatiga muscular en los deportistas: métodos físicos, nutricionales y farmacológicos para combatirla. Arch Med Deport. 2015; 32: 36– 43.
  8. [10]Areces F, Salinero JJ, Abian-Vicen J, et al A 7-day oral supplementation with branched-chain amino acids was ineffective to prevent muscle damage during a marathon. Amino Acids. 2014; 46: 1169– 1176. DOI: 10.1007/s00726-014-1677-3 24477835 · DOI · Paper page
  9. [11]Brancaccio P, Maffulli N, Buonauro R, et al Serum enzyme monitoring in sports medicine. Clin Sport Med. 2008; 27: 1– 18. DOI: 10.1016/j.csm.2007.09.005 18206566 · DOI
  10. [12]Yan B, Lai X, Yi L, et al Effects of five-week resistance training in hypoxia on hormones and muscle strength. J Strength Cond Res. 2016; 30: 184– 193. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001056 26691409 · DOI
  11. [13]Cribb PJ, Hayes A Effects of supplement timing and resistance exercise on skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006; 38: 1918– 1925. 17095924
  12. [14]Bendahan D, Mattei JP, Ghattas B, et al Citrulline malate promotes aerobic energy production in human exercising muscle. Br J Sport Med. 2002; 36: 282– 289. PMC1724533 12145119
  13. [15]Sureda A, Córdova A, Ferrer MD, et al l-Citrullinemalate influence over branched chain amino acid utilization during exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2010; 110: 341– 351. 20499249
  14. [16]Pérez-Guisado J, Jakeman PM Citrulline malate enhances athletic anaerobic performance and relieves muscle soreness. J Strength Cond Res. 2010; 24: 1215– 1222. 20386132
  15. [18]Wax B, Kavazis AN, Weldon K, et al Effects of supplemental citrulline malate ingestion during repeated bouts of lower-body exercise in advanced weightlifters. J Strength Cond Res. 2015; 29: 786– 792. 25226311
  16. [19]Tarazona-Díaz MP, Alacid F, Carrasco M, et al Watermelon juice: potential functional drink for sore muscle relief in athletes. J Agric Food Chem. 2013; 61: 7522– 7528. 23862566
  17. [21]Bailey SJ, Blackwell JR, Williams E, et al Two weeks of watermelon juice supplementation improves nitric oxide bioavailability but not endurance exercise performance in humans. Nitric Oxide. 2016; 59: 10– 20. DOI: 10.1016/j.niox.2016.06.008 27378312 · DOI
  18. [23]Bailey SJ, Blackwell JR, Lord T, et al l-Citrulline supplementation improves O2 uptake kinetics and high-intensity exercise performance in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2015; 119: 385– 395. DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00192.2014 26023227 · DOI · Paper page
  19. [24]Borg G Perceived exertion as an indicator of somatic stress. Scand J Rehabil Med. 1970; 2: 92– 98. 5523831
  20. [25]Collins JK, Wu G, Perkins-Veazie P, et al Watermelon consumption increases plasma arginine concentrations in adults. Nutr. 2007; 23: 261– 266. DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2007.01.005 17352962 · DOI
  21. [27]Steed J, Gaesser GA, Weltman A Rating of perceived exertion and blood lactate concentration during submaximal running. Med Sci Sport Exerc. 1994; 26: 797– 803. 8052120
  22. [28]Armstrong RB Muscle damage and endurance events. Sports Med. 1986; 3: 370– 381. 3529285
  23. [29]Kirby TJ, Triplett NT, Haines TL, et al Effect of leucine supplementation on indices of muscle damage following drop jumps and resistance exercise. Amino Acids. 2012; 42: 1987– 1996. 21562819
  24. [30]Del Coso J, Gonzalez-Millan C, Salinero JJ, et al Muscle damage and its relationship with muscle fatigue during a half-iron triathlon. Plos One. 2012; 7: e43280. 22900101 PMC3416828
  25. [31]Ramos-Campo DJ, Ávila-Gandía V, Alacid F, et al Muscle damage, physiological changes, and energy balance in ultra-endurance mountain-event athletes. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2016; 41: 872– 878. 27447685
  26. [32]Del Coso J, González C, Abián-Vicen J, et al Relationship between physiological parameters and performance during a half-ironman triathlon in the heat. J Sports Sci. 2014; 32(18): 1680– 1687. 24825571
  27. [33]Del Coso JD, Salinero JJ, Abián-Vicen J, et al Influence of body mass loss and myoglobinuria on the development of muscle fatigue after a marathon in a warm environment. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2013a; 38(3): 286– 291. 23537020
  28. [34]Del Coso JD, Fernández D, Abián-Vicen J, et al Running pace decrease during a marathon is positively related to blood markers of muscle damage. PLoS One. 2013b; 8(2): e57602. 23460881 PMC3583862
  29. [35]Mandel H, Levy N, Izkovitch S, et al Elevated plasma citrulline and arginine due to consumption of Citrullus vulgaris (watermelon). J Inherit Metab Dis. 2005; 28(4): 467– 472. DOI: 10.1007/s10545-005-0467-1 15902549 · DOI
  30. [36]Wu G, Collins JK, Perkins-Venzie P, et al Dietary supplementation with watermelon pomace juice enhances arginine availability and ameliorates the metabolic syndrome in Zucker diabetic fatty rats. J Nutr. 2007; 137: 2680– 2685. 18029483
  31. [38]Sureda A, Córdova A, Ferrer MD, et al Effects of l-citrulline oral supplementation on polymorphonuclear neutrophils oxidative burst and nitric oxide production after exercise. Free Rad Res. 2009; 43: 828– 835. 19585317
  32. [39]Callis A, Magnan De Bornier B, Serrano JJ, et al Activity of citrulline malate on acid-base balance and blood ammonia and amino acid levels. Study in the animal and in man. Arzneim-Forsch. 1991; 41: 660– 663. 1930358
  33. [40]Calbet JA, De Paz JA, Garatachea N, et al Anaerobic energy provision does not limit Wingate exercise performance in endurance-trained cyclists. J Appl Physiol. 2003; 94: 668– 676. 12391104
  34. [41]Williams MH Human energy In: Nutrition for health, fitness and sport. 8th ed. New York (NY): McGraw-Hill; 2007 p. 81– 110.
  35. [42]Leers MPG, Schepers R, Baumgarten R Effects of a long-distance run on cardiac markers in healthy athletes. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2006; 44: 999– 1003. 16879068
  36. [45]Urdampilleta A, Martínez-Sanz JM, López-Grueso R Valoración bioquímica del entrenamiento: herramienta para el dietista-nutricionista deportivo. Rev Española Nutr Humana Y Dietética. 2013; 17: 73– 83.
  37. [46]Hellsten Y The role of xanthine oxidase in exercise In: Sen C, Packer L, Hanninen O, editors. Handbook of oxidants and antioxidants in exercise. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2000 p. 153– 276.
  38. [47]Pettersson J, Hindorf U, Persson P, et al Muscular exercise can cause highly pathological liver function tests in healthy men. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2007; 65: 253– 259. 17764474 PMC2291230
  39. [48]Machado M, Antunes WD, Tamy AL, et al Effect of a single dose of caffeine supplementation and intermittent-interval exercise on muscle damage markers in soccer players. J Exerc Sci Fit. 2009; 7: 91– 97.
  40. [49]Munjal DD, McFadden JA, Matix PA, et al Changes in serum myoglobin, total creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase MB levels in runners. Clin Biochem. 1983; 16: 195– 199. 6851084
  41. [50]Lippi G, Schena F, Salvagno GL, et al Acute variation of biochemical markers of muscle damage following a 21-km, half-marathon run. Scand J Clin Lab Invest. 2008; 68(7): 667– 672. 18609111
  42. [51]Lappalainen H, Tiula E, Uotila L, et al Elimination kinetics of myoglobin and creatine kinase in rhabdomyolysis: implications for follow-up. Crit Care Med. 2002; 30: 2212– 2215. 12394946

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Martínez-Sánchez, A., Ramos-Campo, D. J., Fernández-Lobato, B., Rubio-Arias, J. A., Alacid, F., & Aguayo, E.
Affiliations
  • Food Quality and Health Group, Institute of Plant Biotechnology, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Campus Muralla del Mar, Cartagena, Spain
  • Department of Physical Activity and Sport Science, Faculty of Sport, Catholic University of Murcia (UCAM), Murcia, Spain
  • Santa Lucía University General Hospital (ES)
  • Universidad Católica de Murcia (ES)
  • Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (ES)
Corresponding author
Aguayo, Encarna
ORCID
Venue
Food & Nutrition Research
Publisher
SNF Swedish Nutrition Foundation
Published
2017-01
Volume
61
Issue
1
Pages
1330098
ISSN
  • 1654-661X (ISSN-L)
  • 1654-6628
DOI
10.1080/16546628.2017.1330098
PMC
PMC5475291
OpenAlex
W2625204931
Cited by
50
References
9
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1
FWCI
4.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Food & Nutrition Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • RIUCAM (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
CDTI (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad) (Juan de la Cierva Grant)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Exercise and Physiological Responses
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
Keywords
citrulline, watermelon juice, half marathon, exercise performance, muscle soreness, delayed onset muscle soreness, plasma lactate, lactate dehydrogenase, L-arginine, plasma glucose, jump height, heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, muscle damage markers, endurance runners, functional beverages

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review