Coconut Oil Enhances Tomato Carotenoid Tissue Accumulation Compared to Safflower Oil in the Mongolian Gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus)

Abstract

Evidence suggests that monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats facilitate greater absorption of carotenoids than saturated fats. However, the comparison of consuming a polyunsaturated fat source versus a saturated fat source on tomato carotenoid bioaccumulation has not been examined. The goal of this study was to determine the influence of coconut oil and safflower oil on tomato carotenoid tissue accumulation in Mongolian gerbils ( Meriones unguiculatus ) fed a 20% fat diet. Coconut oil feeding increased carotenoid concentrations among many compartments including total carotenoids in the serum (p = 0.0003), adrenal glandular phytoene (p = 0.04), hepatic phytofluene (p = 0.0001), testicular all-trans-lycopene (p = 0.01), and cis-lycopene (p = 0.006) in the prostate-seminal vesicle complex compared to safflower oil. Safflower oil-fed gerbils had greater splenic lycopene concentrations (p = 0.006) compared to coconut oil-fed gerbils. Coconut oil feeding increased serum cholesterol (p = 0.0001) and decreased hepatic cholesterol (p = 0.0003) compared to safflower oil. In summary, coconut oil enhanced tissue uptake of tomato carotenoids to a greater degree than safflower oil. These results may have been due to the large proportion of medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil, which might have caused a shift in cholesterol flux to favor extrahepatic carotenoid tissue deposition.

Absorption, Storage and Distribution of β-Cryptoxanthin in Rat after Chronic Administration of Satsuma Mandarin (<i>Citrus unshiu</i> MARC.) Juice

“…The amount of β-cryptoxanthin in the spleen seems to be higher than that of other carotenoids. 17,22) We have no clear explanation for the reason that the spleen accumulates β-cryptoxanthin in a high concentration, but we concluded that β-cryptoxanthin may act on the immune system such as production of white blood cell lymphocytes. alternatively, β-cryptoxanthin stored in erythrocytes might be removed from old erythrocyte and accumulated in spleen.…”

“…dISCUSSION Previously, many studies using animals have focused on the absorption, storage, and tissue distribution of carotenoids, such as β-carotene and/or lycopene. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] However, little is known about the bioavailability of β-cryptoxanthin. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that absorbed β-cryptoxanthin is stored in several organs after chronic administration of Satsuma mandarin juice, which is rich in β-cryptoxanthin.…”

Low-lycopene containing tomato powder diet does not protect against prostate cancer in TRAMP mice

“…Diet and tissue carotenoid analyses were performed using previously published techniques described by our laboratory [13,19,20]. Briefly, 5 mL of ethanol solution containing 0.01% butylated hydroxytoluene was added to tissue or 25 mg diet, 0.6 g gonadal adipose, or 0.1 g of liver.…”

“…Diet and tissues were saponified for 30 minutes at 60°C. Samples were extracted 3 times with 6 mL hexane, dried in a Speedvac (model AS160; Savant, Farmingdale, NY, USA) evaporator, flushed with argon, and stored at −20°C for 48 hours or less before reverse-phase HPLC-PDA analysis, as previously described [20]. Analytical standards of lycopene, phytoene, phytofluene, and β-carotene were used for quantification.…”

Chromatographic separation of PTAD-derivatized 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 and its C-3 epimer from human serum and murine skin

“…Skin samples (0.30 g) were frozen with liquid nitrogen, crushed to a fine powder using a Cellcrusher (Cellcrusher Ltd.; Cork, Ireland), and transferred to glass vials. The powdered skin was then suspended in 1 mL of water, spiked with 10 L of the d3-25OHD 3 solution, allowed to equilibrate for 15 min, and extracted for lipophilic compounds as previously described [10,11]. Briefly, 1 mL of ethanol containing 0.1% butylated hydroxytoluene and 5 mL of 5:1 hexane/dichloromethane were added to the skin samples, and the mixture was probe sonicated (Branson Ultrasonics; Danbury, CT) for 30 s. The homogenized solutions were centrifuged at 2000 × g for 5 min, and the upper organic layer was decanted into clean glass vials.…”