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Vitamin A Value of Provitamin A‐Rich Fruits and Vegetables in Mongolian Gerbils
Author(s) -
Arscott Sara Andrea,
Howe Julie A,
Davis Christopher R,
Tanumihardjo Sherry A
Publication year - 2009
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.23.1_supplement.896.4
Subject(s) - carotenoid , orange (colour) , carotene , vitamin , food science , spinach , chemistry , provitamin , beta carotene , vitamin c , zoology , biology , biochemistry
Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of provitamin A (pro‐VA) carotenoids. We evaluated the vitamin A (VA) bioefficacy of a whole food supplement (WFS) and its constituent green vegetables (Study 1, n=77) and a variety of fruits with varying ratios of pro‐VA carotenoids (Study 2, n=77) in VA depleted Mongolian gerbils. Diets were equalized to VA. Both studies utilized negative (‐VA, VA‐free diet) and positive (+VA, VA‐fee diet + VA in oil) controls. In Study 1, liver VA was greatest in the +VA group (0.82 ± 0.16 µmol/liver, P < 0.05), followed by brussels sprouts (0.50 ± 0.15 µmol/liver), Betanat® (β‐carotene from B. trispora ) (0.50 ± 0.12 µmol/liver), and spinach (0.47 ± 0.09 µmol/liver) groups. These groups did not differ from baseline (0.58 ± 0.11 µmol/liver, P > 0.05). The WFS (0.44 ± 0.06 µmol/liver) and kale (0.43 ± 0.14 µmol/liver) groups had lower liver VA than the baseline group ( P < 0.05), but did not differ from the brussels sprouts, Betanat®, and spinach groups. In Study 2, treatments included banana (2.2 nmol α‐carotene/g, 1.7 nmol β‐carotene/g), mango (2.8 nmol β‐carotene/g), papaya (3.2 nmol β‐cryptoxanthin/g, 1.2 nmol β‐carotene/g), orange (4.7 nmol β‐cryptoxanthin/g, 0.5 nmol β‐carotene/g), tangerine (4.6 nmol β‐cryptoxanthin/g, 0.5 nmol β‐carotene/g) diets. The pro‐VA activity of these fruits will be calculated. (Supported by Hatch WI Ag Exp St WIS04975 and Standard Process, Inc., Palmyra, WI)