Consumption Of Provitamin Research Articles

Seasonality of Consumption of Nonstaple Nutritious Foods among Young Children from Nepal’s 3 Agroecological Zones

BackgroundChildren’s dietary patterns vary seasonally, particularly in subsistence agriculture settings like Nepal, but the seasonality of nutritious nonstaple food consumption is not well explored in the literature. ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine seasonal differences in children’s consumption of provitamin A–rich fruit and vegetables, dairy, eggs, meat, and fish in Nepal’s 3 agroecological zones, and to assess whether seasonal patterns vary by wealth and caste/ethnicity. MethodsMultivariable negative binomial regression models were used to analyze dietary data from 7-d food-frequency questionnaires, producing coefficient estimates in the form of incidence rate ratios (IRRs). Data were collected 3 times per year for 2 y from children aged 6–72 mo in Nepal’s mountains (n = 226), hills (n = 168), and plains (n = 225). ResultsThere were significant seasonal differences in children’s consumption of provitamin A–rich fruit and vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish that varied by agroecological zone. Adopting monsoon season as the referent for all comparisons, children in the mountains ate provitamin A–rich fruit and vegetables less frequently during the postmonsoon and winter seasons (IRRs: 0.5 and 0.7, respectively; both P < 0.004), whereas in the plains, children’s consumption of these foods was lower only during the postmonsoon season (IRR: 0.2; P < 0.001). Children’s dairy intake frequency increased during the winter in the mountains (IRR: 0.7; P < 0.004) and decreased during the winter in the hills (IRR: 1.5; P < 0.001). Only in the plains did children’s meat and fish intakes vary seasonally, increasing during the postmonsoon season (IRR: 1.6; P < 0.004). Wealth and caste/ethnicity variability influenced children’s consumption of each of these nutritious groups of foods, and moderated seasonal effects in some instances. ConclusionsChildren’s diets varied differently by season within each agroecological zone of Nepal and in some cases across socioeconomic groups, revealing the importance of taking a season- and location-specific approach to assessing diets and tailoring dietary strategies.

β-Cryptoxanthin–Biofortified Hen Eggs Enhance Vitamin A Status When Fed to Male Mongolian Gerbils

Consumption of provitamin A carotenoid biofortified crops, such as maize, supports vitamin A (VA) status in animals and humans. Laying hens that consumeβ-cryptoxanthin-biofortified maize deposit β-cryptoxanthin into egg yolk. We investigated whether β-cryptoxanthin-biofortified egg consumption would affect VA status of male Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) compared with white-yolked eggs. β-Cryptoxanthin-biofortified egg yolk, produced in hens fed biofortified orange maize or tangerine-fortified maize feeds, was freeze-dried and fed to gerbils. White-yolked eggs were produced by feeding white maize to hens. Gerbils (n=57) were fed VA-deficient feed for 28 d. After baseline (n=7), treatments (n=10/group) included oil control (VA-); 16.7% orange maize-biofortified, tangerine-fortified, or white-yolk egg feeds; or retinyl acetate as positive control (VA+) matched to daily preformed retinol intake from the eggs for 30 d. Preformed retinol did not differ between the egg yolks. Gerbil liver retinol, lipid, fatty acids, and cholesterol were determined. Liver retinol concentration (0.13±0.03 µmol/g) and total hepatic VA (0.52±0.12 µmol) were higher in gerbils fed orange maize-biofortified eggs than in all other groups. The VA- group was severely VA deficient (0.018±0.010 µmol/g; P<0.05). Liver retinol was similar among VA+, tangerine-egg-, and white-egg-fed gerbils, but retinol reserves were higher in tangerine-egg-fed gerbils (0.35±0.11 μmol) than in VA+ or VA- gerbils or at baseline (P<0.05). Liver fat was 3.6 times (P<0.0001) and cholesterol was 2.1 times (P<0.004) higher in egg-fed groups that experienced hepatosteatosis. Liver fatty acid profiles reflected feed, but retinyl ester fatty acids did not. The preformed retinol in the eggs enhanced gerbil VA status, and the β-cryptoxanthin-biofortified eggs from hens fed orange maize prevented deficiency. Biofortified maize can enhance VA status when consumed directly or through products from livestock fed orange maize.

13C Natural Abundance of Serum Retinol is a Novel Biomarker for Evaluating Effectiveness of Provitamin A Biofortified Maize and Carrots in Male Mongolian Gerbils

BackgroundCrops, such as maize, rice, sorghum, and millet, are being biofortified with provitamin A carotenoids to sustainably ensure adequate vitamin A (VA) intakes. VA assessment can be challenging because serum retinol is homeostatically controlled and more sensitive techniques are resource intensive.ObjectivesThis study investigated serum retinol 13C abundance changes due to natural 13C fractionation in C3 vs. C4 plants as a biomarker to detect provitamin A efficacy from biofortified (orange) maize and carrots.MethodsThe design was a 2×2×2 maize (orange vs. white) by carrot (orange vs. white) by VA fortificant (VA+ vs. VA−) in Mongolian gerbils (n=55), which included a 14‐d VA‐depletion period followed by eight 62‐d treatments (n=5–7/treatment). VA from liver and serum was quantified and purified by HPLC and subsequently analyzed by gas chromatography‐combustion‐ isotope ratio mass spectrometry for 13C abundance.ResultsTreatments significantly affected liver VA concentrations (P&lt;0.0001), but did not affect serum VA concentrations (P=0.64). Serum retinol and liver VA 13C abundance correlated well (R2=0.92, P&lt;0.0001). Serum retinol 13C abundance differentiated control groups consuming white maize and white carrots (−27.1±1.2 δ 13C‰) from those consuming orange maize and white carrots (−21.6±1.4 δ 13C‰, P&lt;0.0001) and those consuming white maize and orange carrots (−30.6±0.7 δ 13C‰, P&lt;0.0001).ConclusionsProvitamin A adoption effectiveness can be evaluated using serum retinol 13C abundance shifts after consumption of provitamin A maize and could likely be used for other C4 plants being biofortified with provitamin A carotenoids (e.g. millet and sorghum). Advantages of this include no extrinsic tracer dose, a single blood sample, and high sensitivity compared with serum retinol.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported by an endowment to SAT entitled “Friday Chair for Vegetable Processing Research”, USDA Hatch WIS01528 (SAT), California Fresh Carrot Advisory Board (PWS), and HarvestPlus Agreement 5204 (KVP).

Avocado Consumption Enhances Human Postprandial Provitamin A Absorption and Conversion from a Novel High–β-Carotene Tomato Sauce and from Carrots

Dietary lipids have been shown to increase bioavailability of provitamin A carotenoids from a single meal, but the effects of dietary lipids on conversion to vitamin A during absorption are essentially unknown. Based on previous animal studies, we hypothesized that the consumption of provitamin A carotenoids with dietary lipid would enhance conversion to vitamin A during absorption compared with the consumption of provitamin A carotenoids alone. Two separate sets of 12 healthy men and women were recruited for 2 randomized, 2-way crossover studies. One meal was served with fresh avocado (Persea americana Mill), cultivated variety Hass (delivering 23 g of lipid), and a second meal was served without avocado. In study 1, the source of provitamin A carotenoids was a tomato sauce made from a novel, high–β-carotene variety of tomatoes (delivering 33.7 mg of β-carotene). In study 2, the source of provitamin A carotenoids was raw carrots (delivering 27.3 mg of β-carotene and 18.7 mg of α-carotene). Postprandial blood samples were taken over 12 h, and provitamin A carotenoids and vitamin A were quantified in triglyceride-rich lipoprotein fractions to determine baseline-corrected area under the concentration-vs.-time curve. Consumption of lipid-rich avocado enhanced the absorption of β-carotene from study 1 by 2.4-fold (P < 0.0001). In study 2, the absorption of β-carotene and α-carotene increased by 6.6- and 4.8-fold, respectively (P < 0.0001 for both). Most notably, consumption of avocado enhanced the efficiency of conversion to vitamin A (as measured by retinyl esters) by 4.6-fold in study 1 (P < 0.0001) and 12.6-fold in study 2 (P = 0.0013). These observations highlight the importance of provitamin A carotenoid consumption with a lipid-rich food such as avocado for maximum absorption and conversion to vitamin A, especially in populations in which vitamin A deficiency is prevalent. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01432210.

Provitamin A Absorption and Conversion from a Unique High Beta‐Carotene Tomato is Higher when Consumed with Avocado

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.

Maternal dietary risk factors in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (United States).

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood cancer, and the second most common cause of mortality in children aged 1-14 years. Recent research has established that the disease can originate in utero, and thus maternal diet may be an important risk factor for ALL. The Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study is a population-based case-control study of risk factors for childhood leukemia, including maternal diet. Cases (n = 138) and controls (n = 138) were matched on sex, date of birth, mother's race, Hispanicity, and county of residence at birth. Maternal dietary intake in the 12 months prior to pregnancy was obtained by a 76-item food frequency questionnaire. Consumption of the vegetables (OR = 0.53; 95% CI, 0.33-0.85; p = 0.008), protein sources (OR = 0.40; 95% CI, 0.18-0.90, p = 0.03), and fruits (OR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.49-1.04; p = 0.08) food groups were inversely associated with ALL. Among nutrients, consumption of provitamin A carotenoids (OR = 0.65, 95% CI, 0.42-1.01; p = 0.05), and the antioxidant glutathione (OR = 0.42; 95% CI, 0.16-1.10; p = 0.08) were inversely associated with ALL. Maternal dietary factors, specifically the consumption of vegetables, fruits, protein sources and related nutrients, may play a role in the etiology of ALL. Dietary carotenoids and glutathione appear to be important contributors to this effect.

Lack of improvement in vitamin A status with increased consumption of dark-green leafy vegetables

SummaryThere is little evidence to support the general assumption that dietary carotenoids can improve vitamin A status. We investigated in Bogor District, West Java, Indonesia, the effect of an additional daily portion of dark-green leafy vegetables on vitamin A and iron status in women with low haemoglobin concentrations (<130 g/L) who were breastfeeding a child of 3-17 months.Every day for 12 weeks one group (n=57) received stirfried vegetables, a second (n=62) received a wafer enriched with β-carotene, iron, vitamin C, and folic acid, and a third (n=56) received a non-enriched wafer to control for additional energy intake. The vegetable supplement and the enriched wafer contained 3·5 mg β-carotene, 5·2 mg and 4·8 mg iron, and 7·8 g and 4·4 g fat, respectively. Assignment to vegetable or wafer groups was by village. Wafers were distributed double-masked. In the enriched-wafer group there were increases in serum retinol (mean increase 0·32 [95% Cl 0·23-0·40] μmol/L), breastmilk retinol (0·59 [0·35-0·84] μmol/L), and serum β-carotene (0·73 [0·59-0·88] μmol/L). These changes differed significantly from those in the other two groups, in which the only significant changes were small increases in breastmilk retinol in the control-wafer group (0·16 [0·02-0·30] μmol/L) and in serum β-carotene in the vegetable group (0·03 [0-0·06] μmol/L). Changes in iron status were similar in all three groups.An additional daily portion of dark-green leafy vegetables did not improve vitamin A status, whereas a similar amount of β-carotene from a simpler matrix produced a strong improvement. These results suggest that the approach to combating vitamin A deficiency by increases in the consumption of provitamin A carotenoids from vegetables should be re-examined.