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Vitamin A Value of Spirulina β‐carotene in Chinese Adults Assessed by Stable Isotope Dilution Technique
Author(s) -
Wang Jie,
Wang Zhixu,
Li Lei,
Qin Jian,
Russell Robert M,
Yin Shian,
Grusak Michael A,
Tang Guangwen
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a352-a
Subject(s) - spirulina (dietary supplement) , retinol , retinyl acetate , chemistry , vitamin , carotenoid , isotope dilution , carotene , food science , chromatography , high performance liquid chromatography , biochemistry , mass spectrometry , raw material , organic chemistry
Spirulina is a high‐protein food supplement that also contains carotenoids. To determine the vitamin A value of spirulina ß‐carotene (ß‐C) in humans, spirulina was intrinsically labeled by growing the organism in 25 atom% 2H2O nutrient solution. Isotopomers of spirulina trans‐ß‐C showed the highest abundance enrichment at a molecular mass of plus 10 mass units (2H10 trans‐ß‐C). Ten healthy Chinese male subjects of 48 ± 6 y with normal vitamin A status and BMI of 23 ±3 kg/m2 were given 5.9 ?mol (2mg) of 13C10 retinyl acetate in oil capsule as a reference dose together with liquid breakfast (480 kcal, 25% from fat). One week later, each subject consumed 5g of spirulina powder in capsule (7 μmol trans‐ß‐C equivalents) with a liquid breakfast. Low carotenoid and vitamin A diets were adhered to by the subjects. Forty blood samples were collected over 56 days from each subject. HPLC, GC‐ECNCI‐MS and LC‐MS were used to analyze retinol and ß‐C concentrations, and serum enrichment of labeled retinol and ß‐C. Our results showed that the areas under the curves (AUC) for total labeled serum retinol from spirulina ß‐C were 0.5 ± 0.2 nmol·d per nmol spirulina ß‐C and AUC of total labeled serum ß‐C responses were 0.09 ± 0.06 nmol·d per nmol spirulina ß‐C. Compared with 13C10 retinyl acetate, the conversion factor of spirulina ß‐C to retinol was 4.0. ± 1.5 (range 2.1 – 6.1) by wt. Spirulina ß‐C can be converted to retinol efficiently in humans. (Funded by the Nestle Foundation)