The rate of intestinal absorption of natural food folates is not related to the extent of folate conjugation

McKillop, Donal; McNulty, Helene; Scott, John M.; McPartlin, Joseph; Strain, JJ; Bradbury, Ian; Girvan, Jayne; Hoey, Leane; Mccreedy, R. W.; Alexander, Joy; Patterson, Brandon; Hannon-Fletcher, Mary P.A; Pentieva, Kristina

doi:10.1093/ajcn/84.1.167

Cited by 34 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…As eggs are generally not consumed raw, the current findings demonstrate that consumers would be able to cook folate-enriched eggs by their preferred method, following storage for periods up to the Best Before date, with no risk of folate losses. Although further research is necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of folate-enriched eggs in increasing biomarker status of folate in consumers, our previous study suggests that egg folate will prove to be highly bioavailable [44]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of Folate-Enriched Eggs as a Functional Food for Improving Folate Intake in Consumers

et al. 2016

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Functional foods enriched with folate may be beneficial as a means of optimizing folate status in consumers. We recently developed novel eggs enriched with folate through folic acid supplementation of the hen’s feed, but their potential to influence consumer folate status is unknown because the natural folate forms incorporated into the eggs may not necessarily be retained during storage and cooking. This study aimed to determine the stability of natural folates in folate-enriched eggs under typical conditions of storage and cooking. Total folate was determined by microbiological assay following tri-enzyme treatment in folate-enriched eggs and un-enriched (barn and free-range) on the day they were laid, after storage (up to 27 days) and after using four typical cooking methods (boiling, poaching, frying, scrambling) for different durations. On the day of laying, the folate content of enriched eggs was found to be significantly higher than that of un-enriched barn or free-range eggs (mean ± SD; 123.2 ± 12.4 vs. 41.2 ± 2.8 vs. 65.6 ± 18.5 µg/100 g; p < 0.001). Storage at refrigerator and room temperature for periods up to the Best Before date resulted in no significant losses to the folate content of folate-enriched eggs. Furthermore, folate in enriched eggs remained stable when cooked by four typical methods for periods up to the maximum cooking time (e.g., 135 ± 22.5, 133.9 ± 23.0 and 132.5 ± 35.1; p = 0.73, for raw, scrambled for 50 s and scrambled for 2 min, respectively). Thus, natural folates in folate-enriched eggs remain highly stable with little or no losses following storage and cooking. These findings are important because they demonstrate the feasibility of introducing folate-enriched eggs into the diet of consumers as functional foods with enriched folate content. Further studies will confirm their effectiveness in optimizing the biomarker folate status of consumers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of Folate-Enriched Eggs as a Functional Food for Improving Folate Intake in Consumers

et al. 2016

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“…The food matrix affects folate absorption from natural foods [43,76]. The bioavailability of food folates showed large variability in short-term studies (12-24 h) [44,85].…”

Section: Handling Natural Folates Versus Folic Acidmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is 5-methyltetrahydrofolate an alternative to folic acid for the prevention of neural tube defects?

Obeid

Holzgreve

Pietrzik

2013

Journal of Perinatal Medicine

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Women have higher requirements for folate during pregnancy. An optimal folate status must be achieved before conception and in the first trimester when the neural tube closes. Low maternal folate status is causally related to neural tube defects (NTDs). Many NTDs can be prevented by increasing maternal folate intake in the preconceptional period. Dietary folate is protective, but recommending increasing folate intake is ineffective on a population level particularly during periods of high demands. This is because the recommendations are often not followed or because the bioavailability of food folate is variable. Supplemental folate [folic acid (FA) or 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-methylTHF)] can effectively increase folate concentrations to the level that is considered to be protective. FA is a synthetic compound that has no biological functions unless it is reduced to dihydrofolate and tetrahydrofolate. Unmetabolized FA appears in the circulation at doses of > 200 μg. Individuals show wide variations in their ability to reduce FA. Carriers of certain polymorphisms in genes related to folate metabolism or absorption can better benefit from 5-methylTHF instead of FA. 5-MethylTHF [also known as (6S)-5-methylTHF] is the predominant natural form that is readily available for transport and metabolism. In contrast to FA, 5-methylTHF has no tolerable upper intake level and does not mask vitamin B 12 deficiency. Supplementation of the natural form, 5-methylTHF, is a better alternative to supplementation of FA, especially in countries not applying a fortification program. Supplemental 5-methylTHF can effectively improve folate biomarkers in young women in early pregnancy in order to prevent NTDs.

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“…Short -term absorption from endogenous food folates from cereal products [70] , vegetables and fruit [53,68,71,72] , and fortifi ed dairy and cereal products [67] was also assessed. McKillop et al [73] reported that folate absorption was not affected by the extent of conjugation (monoglutamyl versus polyglutamyl folates). Green and black tea were suggested to lower the absorption of supplemental folic acid [74] , and dairy folate binding protein lowered the absorption of (6 S ) -5 -methyltetrahydrofolate fortifi cant from pasteurized and fermented milk [67] .…”

Section: Models/methods To Determine Folate Bioavailabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Analytical Methods to Assess the Bioavailability of Water‐Soluble Vitamins in Food–Exemplified by Folate

Witthöft¹

2011

Fortified Foods With Vitamins

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The rate of intestinal absorption of natural food folates is not related to the extent of folate conjugation

Abstract: These results suggest that the ratio of monoglutamate to polyglutamate in natural folates is not a factor that limits the extent of intestinal absorption of food folate.

Cited by 34 publications

References 41 publications

Validation of Folate-Enriched Eggs as a Functional Food for Improving Folate Intake in Consumers

Validation of Folate-Enriched Eggs as a Functional Food for Improving Folate Intake in Consumers

Is 5-methyltetrahydrofolate an alternative to folic acid for the prevention of neural tube defects?

Analytical Methods to Assess the Bioavailability of Water‐Soluble Vitamins in Food–Exemplified by Folate

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