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Provitamin A Absorption and Conversion from a Unique High Beta‐Carotene Tomato is Higher when Consumed with Avocado
Author(s) -
Kopec Rachel E,
Cooperstone Jessica L,
Schweiggert Ralf M,
Riedl Kenneth M,
Harrison Earl H,
Francis David M,
Clinton Steven K,
Schwartz Steven J
Publication year - 2012
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.26.1_supplement.31.5
Subject(s) - carotenoid , beta carotene , food science , chemistry , provitamin , lutein , meal , carotene , vitamin , triglyceride , absorption (acoustics) , lycopene , biochemistry , cholesterol , physics , acoustics
It has been widely demonstrated that dietary lipid increases carotenoid absorption in humans. In contrast, surprisingly little is known about the effect of lipid on the conversion of provitamin A carotenoids from a typical vegetable meal. We hypothesized that the consumption of provitamin A (from a novel high β‐carotene tomato variety or carrots) with lipid rich avocados would promote the absorption of provitamin A carotenoids and deliver greater quantities of vitamin A as compared to the same meal without avocado. We performed two separate human clinical studies (n=12) with a randomized, crossover design where we quantitated β‐carotene, α‐carotene, lutein, and multiple retinyl esters in the immediate post‐prandial triglyceride rich lipoprotein fraction (TRL) fraction of blood plasma. After a two week washout, the test food was consumed with or without avocado, and blood samples were taken over 12 hours. TRL fractions were immediately isolated, extracted, and quantitated by High Performance Liquid Chromatography‐Mass Spectrometry. A greater level of carotenoid was absorbed when the test meals were consumed with avocado as compared to no avocado. We expect that provitamin A carotenoid conversion to retinyl esters will also be enhanced by co‐consumption of dietary lipid. These findings provide new information on the effects of fat on carotenoid absorption and metabolism in humans to deliver vitamin A.