Influence of β-carotene-rich vegetables on the bioaccessibility of zinc and iron from food grains

Nutritionally Enhanced Staple Food Crops

“…The presence of vitamin A increases iron absorption up to 3 times for rice, 2.4 times for wheat, and 1.8 times for maize, while b-carotene increases iron absorption almost 3 times, showing that both compounds prevent the inhibitory effect of phytates on iron absorption (Layrisse et al 2000). More recently, Gautam et al (2010b) evaluated b-carotene-rich vegetables on bioaccessibility of iron and zinc in cereals and legumes-based foods. Addition of carrot or amaranth significantly enhanced the bioaccessibility of iron and zinc from the food grains, the percent increase being 13.8-86.2 in the case of carrot and 11-193 in the case of amaranth.…”

Poly (l-lactide acid) improves complete nano-hydroxyapatite bone scaffolds through the microstructure rearrangement

“…β-carotene is very attractive as natural food colorant due to its antioxidant and pro-vitamin activities which provide additional value to the products (Paz et al 2012). Furthermore, β-carotene was proved to have beneficial influence on iron and zinc bioaccessibilities (Gautam et al 2010). The main sources of natural β-carotene include extraction from vegetable resources and microbial fermentation (Ribeiro et al 2011).…”

Natural antioxidants as stabilizers for polymers

“…The antioxidants presented in Table 1 can be found in seeds, leaves of plants, berries, peels of fruits and vegetables, since these species are constantly exposed to ultraviolet radiation, which demand a high level of antioxidants [25]. The main sources of carotenoids are sweet potato [26], carrots [27], tomato [28], peppermint and spearmint [29]. Spinach, corn [30] and kale [31] are rich in xanthophylls.…”

“…They can be found in the skin of red grapes [33,34] and in red wine [34], in various citruses [35], onion [36] and honey [37], but leaves of stevia [38] and green tee contain them in considerable amounts too [39]. Various seeds and spices like mustard, ginger, fennel and pepper contain large amounts of phenolic acids [40], and curcuminoids can be found in turmeric [27]. Lignin is the major component of the cell wall of vascular plants [41], while tannins can be found in the seed and skin of grapes [42] and in other exotic fruits [43], but also in the leaves and barks of woods [44].…”