A Comparison of Lycopene, Anthocyanins, and Proanthocyanidins Consumption between College Students and their Respective Older Generations Living in the Same Household

Abstract

Carotenoid (lycopene LC) and flavonoids (anthocyanins AN and proanthocyanidins PA) are effective antioxidants found in daily diets. 94 pairs of college students (CS) and their respective older generations (OG) living in the same household were recruited with their self‐reported three‐day dietary records to determine intakes of LC, AN, and PA. USDA National Nutrient Database for LC (2011) and for PA (2004) were employed to determine LC and PA contents. AN content was determined by Wu et al. (J. Agric Food Chem V.64, 2006). The variables, such as subjects’ BMIs and three day total energy intakes were used to determine the statistical correlations between the intakes of these three compounds and the variables. The results showed that CS consumed more LC and AN (LC: CS vs OG 4179.25 mcg ± S.E. 748.39 vs 2928.56 mcg ± S.E. 475.57 respectively, p=0.14) (AN: CS vs OG 92.95 mg ± S.E. 20.10 vs 57.69 mg ± S.E. 12.72 respectively, p=0.11) and CS consumed slightly lower PA than OG (CS vs OG 333.82 mg ± S.E 49.38 and 371.46 mg ± S.E 92.61 respectively, p=0.55) and no significant differences were found. Whereas there were no significant correlations were found between variables and these compounds, except there was a significant positive correlation found between LC consumption and three day total energy intakes in the CS (p=0.01) but not found significance in the OG (p=0.08). The adequate intakes of these compounds are important for their health.Grant Funding Source: Self‐support