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Lycopene and β-carotene are bioavailable from lycopene ‘red’ carrots in humans

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 58, pages 803–811 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if lycopene and β-carotene are bioavailable from lycopene red carrots and if lycopene absorption is affected by carrot fiber.

Design: Two crossover studies in humans attempted to compare the relative bioavailability of lycopene and β-carotene from tomato paste to a genetically selected lycopene red carrot during chronic feeding. Each study contained three treatment groups. The vehicle of administration was muffins.

Intervention and methods: Study 1 (n=9) used white carrots (0 mg lycopene/day), red carrots (5 mg/day), and tomato paste (20 mg/day). Study 2 (n=10) used red carrots (2.6 mg/day), tomato paste (5 mg/day), and tomato paste plus white carrots (5 mg/day). Each intervention lasted 11 days with a 10-day washout period between treatments. Serum lycopene and β-carotene were measured by HPLC.

Results: Statistical analysis indicated a significant effect of muffin type in study 1 (P<0.001), and a significant treatment by sequence interaction in study 2 (P=0.04). The response to increasing amounts of lycopene is linear at the levels fed in these studies (r=0.94). The data suggest that maintenance of serum lycopene concentrations at 0.3 μmol/l occurs at about 2 mg/day of lycopene from mixed dietary sources and a serum plateau occurs at ≥20 mg/day.

Conclusions: These results show that lycopene and β-carotene are bioavailable from red carrots and lycopene absorption seems to be affected by carrot fiber. Making inferences from both studies, the lycopene in the red carrot is about 44% as bioavailable as that from tomato paste. Red carrots provide an alternative to tomato paste as a good dietary source of lycopene and also provide bioavailable β-carotene.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the American Cancer Society IRG-58-011-44-02, USDA-IFAFS Grant No. 2000-4258, Hatch-Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station WIS04533, and the UW-Madison Graduate School. This work was presented in part at the 2002 Experimental Biology meeting, Horvitz, MA, Simon, P and Tanumihardjo, SA, ‘Bioavailability of lycopene from lycopene ‘red’ carrots,’ FASEB J. 16: A602-A603; Abstract 462.2, 2002. We thank Kevin Gross from the CALS statistical consulting service for his help with the statistical analyses; Michele Nord, Sara Augustine, and Joseph Lancman for their help with the muffins and breakfasts; and all of the human subjects. We also thank Mandy Porter Dosti and Ashley Valentine for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    M A Horvitz & S A Tanumihardjo

  2. Department of Horticulture, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Vegetable Crops Research Unit, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    P W Simon

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  1. M A Horvitz
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Contributions

Guarantor: SA Tanumihardjo.

Contributors: MAH orchestrated the human trials, analyzed the food and serum samples, analyzed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. PWS provided all of the carrots for the studies, helped secure funding and commented on the manuscript. SAT designed the study, secured funding and revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to S A Tanumihardjo.

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Horvitz, M., Simon, P. & Tanumihardjo, S. Lycopene and β-carotene are bioavailable from lycopene ‘red’ carrots in humans. Eur J Clin Nutr 58, 803–811 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601880

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Keywords

  • lycopene
  • bioavailability
  • carrots
  • tomatoes
  • humans
  • carotenoids

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