Relative contribution of {alpha}-carotene to postprandial vitamin A concentrations in healthy humans after carrot consumption [Vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals]

Background: Asymmetric α-carotene, a provitamin A carotenoid, is cleaved to produce retinol (vitamin A) and α-retinol (with negligible vitamin A activity). The vitamin A activity of α-carotene–containing foods is likely overestimated because traditional analytic methods do not separate α-retinol derivatives from active retinol.

Objective: This study aimed to accurately characterize intestinal α-carotene cleavage and its relative contribution to postprandial vitamin A in humans after consumption of raw carrots.

Design: Healthy adults (n = 12) consumed a meal containing 300 g raw carrot (providing 27.3 mg β-carotene and 18.7 mg α-carotene). Triglyceride-rich lipoprotein fractions of plasma were isolated and extracted, and α-retinyl palmitate (αRP) and retinyl palmitate were measured over 12 h postprandially via high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The complete profile of all α-retinyl esters and retinyl esters was measured at 6 h, and total absorption of α- and β-carotene was calculated.

Results: αRP was identified and quantified in every subject. No difference in preference for absorption of β- over α-carotene was observed (adjusting for dose, 28% higher, P = 0.103). After absorption, β-carotene trended toward preferential cleavage compared with α-carotene (22% higher, P = 0.084). A large range of provitamin A carotenoid conversion efficiencies was observed, with α-carotene contributing 12–35% of newly converted vitamin A (predicted contribution = 25.5%). In all subjects, a majority of α-retinol was esterified to palmitic acid (as compared with other fatty acids).

Conclusions: α-Retinol is esterified in the enterocyte and transported in the blood analogous to retinol. The percentage of absorption of α-carotene from raw carrots was not significantly different from β-carotene when adjusting for dose, although a trend toward higher cleavage of β-carotene was observed. The results demonstrate large interindividual variability in α-carotene conversion. The contribution of newly absorbed α-carotene to postprandial vitamin A should not be estimated but should be measured directly to accurately assess the vitamin A capacity of α-carotene–containing foods. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01432210.

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