Gallic acid (GA), a food component that is especially abundant in tea, is an antimutagenic, anticarcinogenic and anti-inflammatory agent. We conducted a study using acidum gallicum tablets that contained 10% GA and 90% glucose and a black tea brew that contained 93% of its GA in free form to determine the pharmacokinetics and relative bioavailability of GA in healthy humans. After the administration of a single oral dose of acidum gallicum tablets or tea (each containing 0. 3 mmol GA) to 10 volunteers, plasma and urine samples were collected over various time intervals. Concentrations of GA and its metabolite, 4-O-methylgallic acid (4OMGA), were determined, and the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated. GA from both the tablets and tea was rapidly absorbed and eliminated with mean half-lives of 1. 19 +/- 0. 07 and 1. 06 +/- 0. 06 h and mean maximum concentrations of 1. 83 +/- 0. 16 and 2. 09 +/- 0. 22 micromol/L (plasma), respectively. After oral administration of the tablets and black tea, 36. 4 +/- 4. 5 and 39. 6 +/- 5. 1% of the GA dose were extracted in urine as GA and 4OMGA, respectively. The relative bioavailability of GA from tea compared with that from the tablets was 1 VSports手机版. 06 +/- 0. 26, showing that GA is as available from drinking tea as it is from swallowing tablets of GA. .