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Vitamin A equivalence of carotenoids from high‐carotenoid cassava in healthy well‐nourished women
Author(s) -
La Frano Michael R.,
Woodhouse Leslie R.,
LaPorte Delphine,
Burri Betty 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.lb319
Subject(s) - bioavailability , biofortification , carotenoid , food science , vitamin , ingestion , biology , beta carotene , chemistry , biochemistry , micronutrient , bioinformatics , organic chemistry
Biofortification of cassava with beta‐carotene (BC) may be a solution to vitamin A (VA) deficiency in countries where it is a staple food. However, data regarding the bioavailability of BC in this food is limited. We compared absorption and VA equivalence of BC in triacylgyceride–rich lipoprotein (TRL) plasma fractions after ingestion of cassava meals. Ten women consumed 3 different porridges, each with 100 g of cassava: 1) Biofortified cassava (containing 2 mg BC) with 15 mL oil (BFO); 2) Biofortified cassava without oil (BF); and 3) white cassava (C) with oil and a 0.3 mg retinyl palmitate (RP) tracer. Porridges were consumed in random order with 2 wk washouts. Blood was collected 6 times from −0.5 – 10 h. TRL were separated by ultracentrifugation and analyzed by HPLC with coulometric array electrodetection. Analysis showed significant increases in BC absorption and RP formation in TRL after both biofortified cassava meals, with BC and RP area‐under‐the‐curves being highest in BFO. The VA equivalence (defined as nmol BC/nmol RP) of both biofortified cassavas was 4:1. This suggests that biofortified cassava can be a good source of BC and VA. Supported by HarvestPlus.