Carotenoids from native Brazilian dark-green vegetables are bioavailable: A study in rats

Autor: Egle Machado de Almeida Siqueira, Elizabeth Maria Talá de Souza, Sandra Fernandes Arruda, Ivete Teresinha Graebner
Rok vydání: 2004
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nutrition Research. 24:671-679
ISSN: 0271-5317
Popis: One of the major dietary sources of vitamin A in the human diet is provitamin A carotenoids. However, the activity of these carotenoids as a vitamin A source is uncertain due to concerns about the bioavailability of the carotenoids from vegetables. This study evaluated the bioavailability of provitamin A carotenoids from native Brazilian dark-green vegetables. Vitamin A–depleted rats were fed a basal diet (AIN-93G) in which the synthetic vitamin A content was replaced by non conventional leaves. At the end of the 30 day-repletion period, 1 μg of retinol accumulated in the liver after the intake of 43.1, 95.3 or 178.9 μg β-carotene from Sonchus oleraceus (So) , Amaranthus viridis (Av) and Xanthosoma sagittifolium (Xs) leaves, respectively. The relative bioavailability of β-carotene from the leaves was 36 %, 16%, and 9% for So, Av, and Xs leaf, respectively. The results showed that the carotenoids from the three dark-green leaves were absorbed, converted to retinol, and stored in the liver of rats. Because they are pest-resistant and widely distributed vegetables, they may be an inexpensive alternative source of vitamin A to reduce vitamin A deficiency.
Databáze: OpenAIRE