Carrot Leaves Maintain Liver Vitamin A Concentrations in Male Mongolian Gerbils Regardless of the Ratio of α- to β-Carotene When β-Carotene Equivalents Are Equalized

Tyler J Titcomb; Mikayla S Kaeppler; Sofía Beatriz Sandoval Cates; Jamie M Shannon; Philipp W Simon; Sherry A Tanumihardjo

doi:10.1093/jn/nxz036

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Carrot Leaves Maintain Liver Vitamin A Concentrations in Male Mongolian Gerbils Regardless of the Ratio of α- to β-Carotene When β-Carotene Equivalents Are Equalized

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Carrot Leaves Maintain Liver Vitamin A Concentrations in Male Mongolian Gerbils Regardless of the Ratio of α- to β-Carotene When β-Carotene Equivalents Are Equalized

Tyler J Titcomb, Mikayla S Kaeppler, Sofía Beatriz Sandoval Cates, Jamie M Shannon, Philipp W Simon and Sherry A Tanumihardjo

The Journal of nutrition, Vol.149(6), pp.951-958

06/2019

DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxz036

PMID: 31050738

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Abstract

Carrots are an important horticultural crop that contain provitamin A carotenoids (PACs). Orange carrots have high concentrations of α-carotene, which upon central cleavage yields 1 retinal and 1 α-retinal molecule. The leaves of carrot plants are a source of PACs when consumed. Male Mongolian gerbils aged 27–30 d were used to assess the bioefficacy of carrot leaves to maintain vitamin A (VA) status and investigate whether the ratio of α- to β-carotene (α:β-carotene) affected bioefficacy. After 3 wk depletion, baseline gerbils were killed (n = 6) and the remaining gerbils (n = 60) were divided into 6 groups to receive 4 VA-deficient, carrot leaf–fortified feeds (1:1.4, 1:2.5, 1:5.0, and 1:80 α:β-carotene ratio) equalized to 4.8 nmol/g β-carotene equivalents (βCEs), or VA-deficient feed with (VA+) or without (VA−) retinyl acetate supplements. Carrot-leaf powder from 4 carrot plants with differing α:β-carotene ratios was used. After 4 wk, gerbils were killed and tissues were collected and analyzed for retinoids by HPLC. VA+ had higher total liver VA (means ± SD 0.91 ± 0.29 μmol) than all other groups (range: 0.40–0.62) (P ≤ 0.03), and the carrot leaf treatments did not differ from baseline (0.55 ± 0.09 μmol). VA− (0.40 ± 0.23 μmol VA/liver) did not differ from the leaf-fed groups, but 30% became VA deficient (defined as <0.1 μmol VA/g liver). α-Retinol accumulated in livers and lungs and was correlated to total α-carotene consumption (R2 = 0.83 and 0.88, respectively; P < 0.0001). Bioefficacy factors ranged from 4.2 to 6.2 μg βCE to 1 μg retinol. Carrot leaves maintain VA status and prevent deficiency in gerbils regardless of the α:β-carotene ratio. The bioconversion of PACs from carrot leaves to retinol is similar to what has been reported for other green leafy vegetables, making the consumption of carrot leaves a viable method to improve dietary PAC intake.

animal feed additive

bioefficacy

edible herbs

green leafy vegetables

provitamin A carotenoids

α-retinol

Details

Title: Subtitle: Carrot Leaves Maintain Liver Vitamin A Concentrations in Male Mongolian Gerbils Regardless of the Ratio of α- to β-Carotene When β-Carotene Equivalents Are Equalized
Creators: Tyler J Titcomb - University of Wisconsin–Madison
Mikayla S Kaeppler - University of Wisconsin–Madison
Sofía Beatriz Sandoval Cates - University of Wisconsin–Madison
Jamie M Shannon - University of Wisconsin–Madison
Philipp W Simon - University of Wisconsin–Madison
Sherry A Tanumihardjo - University of Wisconsin–Madison
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: The Journal of nutrition, Vol.149(6), pp.951-958
DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxz036
PMID: 31050738
NLM abbreviation: J Nutr
ISSN: 0022-3166
eISSN: 1541-6100
Publisher: Elsevier Inc
Language: English
Date published: 06/2019
Academic Unit: Internal Medicine
Record Identifier: 9984548856402771

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