Physicochemical properties of and volatile compounds in riboflavin fortified cloudy apple juice; study of its effect on job fatigue among Egyptian construction workers

Fatigue and rapid exhaustion are common complaints among construction workers, as a result of high-effort levels, physical overexertion, weather and long physically demanding work hours. This study aimed to fortify cloudy apple juice with riboflavin (vitamin B2) to evaluate changes in chemical composition, antioxidant activity and volatile compounds in the fortified juice and to study its effect on the volunteer construction workers complaining of fatigue resulting from demanding physical duties. Analysis of volatile compounds in the fortified cloudy apple juice using Gas Chromatography and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry identified thirty-four volatile compounds including esters, alcohols, aldehydes and acids. The most predominant volatile compounds were alcohols followed by esters in both the control and fortified samples. We studied the effect of the supplementation of riboflavin-fortified cloudy apple juice versus conventional cloudy apple juice on the anthropometric parameters, the scores of two fatigue questionnaires (Checklist Individual Strength and Fatigue Severity Scale) and antioxidants biomarkers among young Egyptian male construction workers. This study revealed that consumption of 1.3 mg of riboflavin-fortified cloudy apple juice per day for twenty-eight days significantly improved their metabolism, with a decrease in mean body fat percentage and an increase in body muscle mass without statistically significant differences, the fortified juice significantly improved the fatigue questionnaires' scores. Moreover, the fortified supplement had a substantial change in antioxidant activity; there was significant increase in the plasma total antioxidant capacity (+74.19 %change) and catalase enzyme (+54.65 %change) with a significant decrease in the serum malondialdehyde level (−53.78 %change). When compared to the administration of conventional cloudy apple juice, although there was a significant decrease in serum malondialdehyde level (−4.63 %change) at the end of the study, only the subjective fatigue subscale of the CIS fatigue score significantly decreased among the construction workers (−24.61 %change). It could be concluded that vitamin B2 fortified-cloudy apple juice was effective in the reduction of fatigue and exhaustion in the study's subjects.