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Ingested quercetin but not rutin increases accumulation of hepatic β‐carotene in BALB/c mice
Author(s) -
Bando Noriko,
Muraki Naomi,
Murota Kaeko,
Terao Junji,
Yamanishi Rintaro
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
molecular nutrition and food research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.495
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1613-4133
pISSN - 1613-4125
DOI - 10.1002/mnfr.200900329
Subject(s) - rutin , quercetin , in vivo , carotene , chemistry , carotenoid , biochemistry , in vitro , gastrointestinal tract , flavonoid , small intestine , vitamin , antioxidant , food science , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
β‐Carotene is a carotenoid with a range of reported health benefits besides vitamin A activity. If the enzymatic conversion of β‐carotene to retinal is suppressed in the digestive tract, residual β‐carotene that reaches the tissues increases. We evaluated the function of quercetin and rutin (quercetin‐3‐rutinoside) to increase the accumulation of β‐carotene in vitro and in vivo in BALB/c mice. When the conversion of β‐carotene by a preparation of the murine small intestine was measured in vitro , the addition of quercetin or rutin considerably inhibited the conversion. When the levels of hepatic β‐carotene and retinoids were measured among three groups of mice fed a diet supplemented with β‐carotene plus quercetin or rutin or β‐carotene alone (four to six mice per group), quercetin increased the level of β‐carotene and decreased the level of retinol, whereas rutin did not. These results demonstrate that quercetin can suppress the conversion of β‐carotene which develops in the cytosol of small intestinal epithelial cells, and that rutin whose rutinose‐moiety prevents being absorbed in the small intestine cannot suppress the conversion in vivo . This study offers a novel insight into the interaction between flavonoids and carotenoids with respect to the health benefits from the latter.