Assessment of carotenoids in pumpkins after different home cooking conditions

Carotenoids have antioxidant activity, but few are converted by the body into retinol, the active form of vitamin A. Among the 600 carotenoids with pro-vitamin A activity, the most common are α- and β-carotene. These carotenoids are susceptible to degradation (e.g., isomerization and oxidation) during cooking. The aim of this study was to assess the total carotenoid, α- and β-carotene, and 9 and 13-Z- β-carotene isomer contents in C. moschata after different cooking processes. The raw pumpkin samples contained 236.10, 172.20, 39.95, 3.64 and 0.8610 µg.g- 1 of total carotenoids, β-carotene, α-carotene, 13-cis-β-carotene, and 9-Z-β-carotene, respectively. The samples cooked in boiling water contained 258.50, 184.80, 43.97, 6.80, and 0.77 µg.g- 1 of total carotenoids, β-carotene, α-carotene, 13-Z-β-carotene, and 9-Z-β-carotene, respectively. The steamed samples contained 280.77, 202.00, 47.09, 8.23, and 1.247 µg.g- 1 of total carotenoids, β-carotene, α-carotene,13-Z-β-carotene, and 9-Z-β-carotene, respectively. The samples cooked with added sugar contained 259.90, 168.80, 45.68, 8.31, and 2.03 µg.g- 1 of total carotenoid, β-carotene, α-carotene, 13-Z- β-carotene, and 9-Z- β-carotene, respectively. These results are promising considering that E- β-carotene has 100% pro-vitamin A activity. The total carotenoid and carotenoid isomers increased after the cooking methods, most likely as a result of a higher availability induced by the cooking processes.

Main food sources of carotenoids, according to the purpose and degree of processing, for beneficiaries of the 'Bolsa Família' in Brazil

The intake of carotenoids is associated with antioxidant properties and some of these substances have activity of pro-vitamin A. This study aimed to estimate the intake of carotenoids (average values) by the Brazilian population focusing on beneficiaries of the 'Bolsa Família' Program and identify the dietary sources, according to the purpose and degree of processing and the inclusion of food additives. The database used is the personal food consumption module of the Household Budget Survey of 2008-2009, conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. The content of carotenoids in foods was obtained primarily from a National data source. Food products were classified into three categories: 1) fresh and minimally processed foods; 2) processed foods (containing food additives, except for flavoring and coloring agents); and 3) highly processed foods (containing flavoring and coloring agents). Insufficient intakes were identified for the conditional cash transfer program beneficiaries (3,547.1 µg). Fresh and minimally processed foods supplied between 48.6% (for girls) and 65.7% (for male adults) of pro-vitamin carotenoids. Processed foods were sources of between 55.5% and 57.0% of lutein + zeaxanthin for elderly and between 58.0% and 67.8% of lycopene for adults. Highly processed foods contributed to less than 5.0% of total carotenoids.

Carotenoids are related to the colour and lipid content of the pequi (Caryocar brasiliense Camb.) pulp from the Brazilian Savanna

This study investigated the colour, proximate composition, bioactive compounds (phenolic and carotenoid contents), and antioxidant activity of the pulp of pequi from different regions of the Brazilian Savanna. The colour parameters and the lipid and carotenoid contents of the pulp were significantly different between the samples. The lipid content ranged from 135.4 to 322.5 g/kg. The pequi pulp showed high total phenolic content (1.8 to 3.3 mg GAE/g). The carotenoid amount ranged from 37 to 187 µg/g. The carotenoid content was significantly correlated with the colour and lipid content of the pequi pulp. The antioxidant activity showed a mean IC50 value of 197.9 µg/mL. The pequi pulp is rich in phenolic compounds and carotenoids and has a good antioxidant activity. Its colour is influenced by the carotenoid content, which can be predicted by regression models using routine colour parameters.

Influence of the moisture at harvest and drying process of the grains on the level of carotenoids in maize (Zea mays)

AbstractMaize is considered a source of carotenoids; however, these compounds are highly unstable, degraded by high temperatures, exposure to light and presence of oxygen. The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of the moisture and type of drying applied to grains on the level of carotenoids in yellow maize. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design (2 × 4 factorial), two levels of initial moisture at the harvest (22 and 19%) and three types of drying (in the sun; in the shade and in a dryer) and control (no drying). The samples of grains after drying with 12% of final moisture were analyzed by concentration of total carotenoids, carotenes (α-carotene + β-carotene), monohydroxilated carotenoids (β-cryptoxanthin), and xanthophylls (lutein + zeaxanthin). Initial moisture, type of drying and the interaction between moisture versus drying influence (p≤0.05) the levels of carotenoids in grains. This is the first report about the drying conditions and harvest’s initial moisture as influence on the profile and content of carotenoids in maize grains. Based on the results, this work suggested that the harvest be carried out preferably when the grains present 22% humidity, with drying in a dryer or in shade for further use or storage.

HYPOXIC ADAPTATIONS AND CAROTENOIDS OF TWO INTERTIDAL MOLLUSCS

The present investigation is to find the hypoxic adaptations and role of carotenoids in the anaerobic catabolism of two intertidal bivalves-Sunetta scripta and Perna viridis. Physiological and cytological responses during hypoxic stress have been studied and compared to that of sublethal heavy metal (copper) exposure using two indices : total carotenoid concentration and accumulation of lipofuscin granules. A close similarity has been observed between hypoxic exposed and copper (sublethal) exposed animals regarding the total carotenoid concentration and lipofuscin accumulation. In the case of S.scripta, the total caroteniod increase at 48h of both hypoxic and heavy metal exposure was found to be nearly 40% greater than that of the control (0h). Whereas in P.viridis, the increment in the total carotenoid concentration at 48h of hypoxic exposure and 48h of heavy metal exposure were found to be nearly 87% and 95% higher than that of the control (0h) respectively.Regarding the lipofuscin accumulation, in both S.scripta and P.viridis , the characteristic features of the granule at 48h of hypoxia is very much similar to that observed at 48h of heavy metal exposure. Thus, the present study suggests that the increase in carotenoid concentration and lipofuscin accumulation expressed by bivalves under heavy metal stress can be due to the indirect effect of hypoxia.

Internal structure of chlorosomes from brown-colored Chlorobium species and the role of carotenoids in their assembly

Chlorosomes are the main light harvesting complexes of green photosynthetic bacteria. Recently, a lamellar model was proposed for the arrangement of pigment aggregates in Chlorobium tepidum chlorosomes, which contain bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) c as the main pigment. Here we demonstrate that the lamellar organization is also found in chlorosomes from two brown-colored species (Chl. phaeovibrioides and Chl. phaeobacteroides) containing BChl e as the main pigment. This suggests that the lamellar model is universal among green sulfur bacteria. In contrast to green-colored Chl. tepidum, chlorosomes from the brown-colored species often contain domains of lamellar aggregates that may help them to survive in extremely low light conditions. We suggest that carotenoids are localized between the lamellar planes and drive lamellar assembly by augmenting hydrophobic interactions. A model for chlorosome assembly, which accounts for the role of carotenoids and secondary BChl homologs, is presented

Carotenoids Biosynthesis – a review

As plantas sintetizam uma enorme variedade de metabolitos, que podem ser classificados em dois grupos, de acordo com as suas funções: metabolitos primários, que participam na nutrição e processos metabólicos essenciais no interior da própria planta, e metabolitos secundários (também referidos como produtos naturais), os quais influenciam as interacções ecológicas entre as plantas e o ambiente. Os carotenóides são metabolitos secundários derivados do isopreno. O isopentenil-pirofosfato (IPP) é a unidade básica para a biossíntese dos carotenóides. O esqueleto carbonado dos carotenóides é sintetizado por adição sucessiva das unidades em C5 que vão formar geranilgeranilpirofosfato, intermediário em C20 que por condensação origina a estrutura em C40. Recentemente assumia-se que todos os isoprenóides se sintetizavam a partir do acetil-CoA via ácido mevalónico. Estudos recentes mostraram que o percurso metabólico começa com a síntese do IPP via ácido mevalónico (MVA) e/ou via metileritritol 4-fosfato (MEP). Neste trabalho discutem-se os avanços no conhecimento destas diferentes vias m tabólicas assim como as enzimas e reacções envolvidas na biossíntese dos carotenóides a partir da unidade fundamental (IPP).

Antioxidant properties of carotenoids in vitro and in vivo

Carotenoids are a class of natural pigments familiar to all through the orange-red to yellow colors of many fruits, vegetables, and flowers, as well as for the provitamin A activity that some of them possess. A body of scientific evidence suggests that carotenoids may scavenge and deactivate free radicals, acting thereby as antioxidants both in food systems (in vitro) and in the human organism (in vivo). Overall, epidemiological evidence links higher carotenoid intakes and tissue concentrations with reduced cancer and cardiovascular disease risk. However, research has also shown that the antioxidant activity of carotenoids may shift to a prooxidant character depending mainly on the biological environment in which they act. A summary of the antioxidant potential of natural carotenoids both in oil model systems and in vivo is presented in this article.

Antioxidant properties of annatto carotenoids

The antioxidant effects of beta-carotene, oil-soluble (bixin) and water-soluble (norbixin) annatto preparations and mixtures of these carotenoids with virgin olive oil polar extract were assessed in bulk olive oil and oil-in-water emulsions stored at 60degreesC. Norbixin was the only carotenoid that inhibited the oxidative deterioration of lipids in both systems. Though bixin and beta-carotene did not retard autoxidation, their mixtures with the polar extract from virgin olive oil enhanced the antioxidant effect of the olive oil extract. Norbixin (2 mM) was of similar activity to delta-tocopherol (0.1 mM) in stored oil. The combination of norbixin with ascorbic acid or ascorbyl palmitate in oil showed a reduction in formation of volatile oxidation products but not in peroxide value, compared with the analogous sample lacking norbixin. In olive oil-in-water emulsions, norbixin (2 mM) reduced hydroperoxide formation to a similar extent as delta-tocopherol (0.1 mM), which in turn was a better antioxidant than alpha-tocopherol. A synergistic effect between norbixin and ascorbic acid or ascorbyl palmitate was observed in the emulsion systems. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A novel combined biomarker including plasma carotenoids, vitamin C, and ferric reducing antioxidant power is more strongly associated with fruit and vegetable intake than the individual components

BACKGROUND: Monitoring of fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake is fraught with difficulties. Available dietary assessment methods are associated with considerable error, and the use of biomarkers offers an attractive alternative. Few studies to date have examined the use of plasma biomarkers to monitor or predict the F&V intake of volunteers consuming a wide range of intakes from both habitual F&V and manipulated diets. OBJECTIVE: This study tested the hypothesis that an integrated biomarker calculated from a combination of plasma vitamin C, cholesterol-adjusted carotenoid concentration and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) had more power to predict F&V intake than each individual biomarker. METHODS: Data from a randomized controlled dietary intervention study [FLAVURS (Flavonoids University of Reading Study); n = 154] in which the test groups observed sequential increases of 2.3, 3.2, and 4.2 portions of F&Vs every 6 wk across an 18-wk period were used in this study. RESULTS: An integrated plasma biomarker was devised that included plasma vitamin C, total cholesterol-adjusted carotenoids, and FRAP values, which better correlated with F&V intake (r = 0.47, P < 0.001) than the individual biomarkers (r = 0.33, P < 0.01; r = 0.37, P < 0.001; and r = 0.14, respectively; P = 0.099). Inclusion of urinary potassium concentration did not significantly improve the correlation. The integrated plasma biomarker predicted F&V intake more accurately than did plasma total cholesterol-adjusted carotenoid concentration, with the difference being significant at visit 2 (P < 0.001) and with a tendency to be significant at visit 1 (P = 0.07). CONCLUSION: Either plasma total cholesterol-adjusted carotenoid concentration or the integrated biomarker could be used to distinguish between high- and moderate-F&V consumers. This trial was registered at www.controlled-trials.com as ISRCTN47748735.

Carotenoids but not flavonoids are associated with improvements in spatial working memory in younger adults in a flavonoid-rich v. -poor fruit and vegetable intervention study

Findings from animal studies suggest that components of fruit and vegetables (F&V) may protect against, and even reverse, age-related decline(1,2) in aspects of cognitive functioning such as spatial working memory (SWM). Human subjects in vivo and in vitro studies indicate that anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and cell-signalling properties of flavonoids and carotenoids, non-nutrient components of F&V, may underpin this protective effect(3–5). The Flavonoid University of Reading Study (FLAVURS), designed to explore the dose-response relationship between dietary F&V flavonoids and CVD, enabled the investigation of such an association with SWM. FLAVURS is an 18-week parallel three-arm randomised controlled dietary intervention trial with four time points, measured at 6-weekly intervals from baseline. Low F&V consumers at risk of CVD aged 26–70 years were randomly assigned to high flavonoid (HF), low flavonoid (LF) or control group. F&V intake increased by two daily 80 g portions every 6 weeks, with either HF or LF F&V, in addition to each participant's habitual diet, while controls maintained their habitual diet. At each visit, participants completed a cognitive test battery with SWM as the primary outcome. The HF group showed significantly higher levels of urinary flavonoids than LF or controls at 12 weeks (P<0.001) as expected, but surprisingly only higher levels than LF at 18 weeks (P<0.01). The LF group showed higher levels of plasma carotenoids than the other groups at 18 weeks (P<0.001). No group differences were found for SWM overall, however, age-group sub-analyses (26–50 and 51–70 years of age) showed differences from 0 to 18 weeks for younger adults, with LF improving significantly more than the other two groups on SWM (P<0.05). As nutritional absorption is known to decrease with age, separate stepwise regressions were performed on the two age groups irrespective of dietary group, with urinary flavonoids and plasma carotenoids as predictors. For younger adults, improved SWM performance from 0 to 18 weeks was associated with higher carotenoid levels, β=0.28, t(55)=2.10, P<0.05, accounting for 7.5% of the variance, R2=0.075, F(1,54)=4.41, P=0.040. For older adults, no between-group SWM differences were found. Findings suggest that F&V-based flavonoids and carotenoids may provide benefits for cognitive function, and that carotenoids in particular may improve cognitive performance in SWM. Given that these benefits were restricted to younger adults, future work is needed to test the reliability of this finding, as well as determine the mechanisms by which age-dependent differences in F&V responsiveness occur.

Supercritical CO(2) extraction of carotenoids from pitanga fruits (Eugenia uniflora L.)

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO(2)) extraction was employed to extract carotenoids from the freeze-dried pulp of pitanga fruits (Eugenia uniflora L.), an exotic fruit, rich in carotenoids and still little explored commercially. The SC-CO(2) extraction was carried out at two temperatures, 40 and 60 degrees C, and seven pressures, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350 and 400 bar. The carotenoids were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography connected to photodiode array and mass spectrometry detectors. Lycopene, rubixanthin and P-cryptoxanthin were the main carotenoids present in the freeze-dried pitanga pulp, whereas beta-cryptoxanthin concentration was negligible in the SC-CO(2) extracts, for all the investigated state conditions. The maximum recovery of carotenoids was obtained at 60 degrees C and 250 bar, extracting 55% of the total carotenoid content, 74% of the rubixanthin and 78% of the lycopene from the pulp. Under these state conditions, the total carotenoid concentration in the extract was 5474 mu g/g, represented by 66% lycopene and 32% rubixanthin. The experimental state conditions produced different SC-CO(2) extracts with respect to the extraction yield and concentration of different carotenoids, indicating that the supercritical carbon dioxide was selective in the extraction of the pitanga carotenoids as a function of temperature and pressure. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sources of errors in the quantitative analysis of food carotenoids by HPLC

Several factors render carotenoid determination inherently difficult. Thus, in spite of advances in analytical instrumentation, discrepancies in quantitative results on carotenoids can be encountered in the international literature. A good part of the errors comes from the pre-chromatographic steps such as sampling scheme that does not yield samples representative of the food lots under investigation; sample preparation which does not maintain representativity and guarantee homogeneity of the analytical sample; incomplete extraction; physical losses of carotenoids during the various steps, especially during partition or washing and by adsorption to glass walls of containers; isomerization and oxidation of carotenoids during analysis. on the otherhand, although currently considered the method of choice for carotenoids, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is subject to various sources of errors, such as: incompatibility of the injection solvent and the mobile phase, resulting in distorted or split peaks; erroneous identification; unavailability, impurity and instability of carotenoid standards; quantification of highly overlapping peaks; low recovery from the HPLC column; errors in the preparation of standard solutions and in the calibration procedure; calculation errors. Illustrations of the possible errors in the quantification of carotenoids by HPLC are presented.

Updated Brazilian database on food carotenoids: Factors affecting carotenoid composition

This article updates the Brazilian database on food carotenoids. Emphasis is on carotenoids that have been demonstrated important to human health: alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthin. The sampling and sample preparation strategies and the analytical methodology are presented. Possible sources of analytical errors, as well as the measures taken to avoid them, are discussed. Compositional variation due to such factors as variety/cultivar, stage of maturity, part of the plant utilized, climate or season and production technique are demonstrated. The effects of post-harvest handling, preparation, processing and storage of food on the carotenoid composition are also discussed. The importance of biodiversity is manifested by the variety of carotenoid sources and the higher levels of carotenoids in native, uncultivated or semi-cultivated fruits and vegetables in comparison to commercially produced crops. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.