Consumption of canned citrus fruit meals increases human plasma beta-cryptoxanthin concentration whereas lycopene and beta-carotene concentrations did not change in healthy adults

• Published in: Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2016-07, Vol.36 (7), p.679-688
• Main Authors: Zhu, Chenghao H, Gertz, Erik R, Cai, Yimeng, Burri, Betty J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; adults; Antioxidants - administration & dosage; beta Carotene - administration & dosage; beta Carotene - blood; beta-carotene; beta-cryptoxanthin; Beta-Cryptoxanthin - administration & dosage; Beta-Cryptoxanthin - blood; blood; Blood Glucose - metabolism; Body Mass Index; Carotenoid; Carotenoids - administration & dosage; Carotenoids - blood; Cholesterol - blood; Citrus; Citrus - chemistry; Cross-Over Studies; Diet; Female; food matrix; Food, Preserved; Fruit - chemistry; Gastroenterology and Hepatology; grapefruits; Human; Humans; Lycopene; Male; Meals; Plasma response; reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography; Single-Blind Method; Surveys and Questionnaires; tangerines; volunteers; β-Cryptoxanthin
• ISSN: 0271-5317; 1879-0739
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nutres.2016.03.005

Abstract Several studies suggest that beta-cryptoxanthin has a greater plasma response from its common food sources than other carotenoids such as beta-carotene and lycopene. The hypothesis of this study is that changes in plasma beta-cryptoxanthin concentrations will be greater than changes in plasma beta-carotene or lycopene concentrations even if these carotenoids are fed in a similar food matrix, such as citrus fruit. We tested this hypothesis by measuring changes in plasma concentrations of beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, and beta-carotene after feeding measured amounts of canned tangerines and pink grapefruit to healthy non-smoking adult humans. Volunteers served as their own controls and received both citrus fruit treatments randomly. In the first study, eight subjects ate single meals of 234-304 g tangerines or 60-540 g pink grapefruit. The second study compared changes in plasma carotenoid concentration caused by feeding 234 g tangerines or 540 g pink grapefruit to 11 subjects. Blood was collected 5 times within 24 hr after each citrus meal. Carotenoid concentrations were analyzed by reversed-phase HPLC. Plasma beta-cryptoxanthin concentrations increased within 5 hrs, and then stabilized, remaining high throughout the 24 hrs measured. Plasma concentrations of lycopene and beta-carotene did not change. These results show that beta-cryptoxanthin concentrations increased after a citrus fruit meal, but lycopene and beta-carotene concentrations did not change after a similar citrus fruit meal. These results support our hypothesis that changes in plasma beta-cryptoxanthin are greater than changes in plasma lycopene or beta-carotene, even when these carotenoids are fed in a similar food matrix.