In vitro bioaccessibility of carotenoids and tocopherols from fruits and vegetables

To assess the in vitro bioaccessibility of carotenoids, including xanthophyll esters, and tocopherols from fruits and vegetables. Stability for carotenoids and tocopherols was over 70%. Xanthophyll esters were cleaved by cholesterol esterase but not by human pancreatic lipase. Less than 40% of the β-cryptoxanthin initially present was hydrolyzed and the amount of free xanthophylls recovered was higher when liquid was used than when fresh homogenized matrix was employed. cis-Isomers of β-carotene and lutein did not significantly increase during the process. Xanthophylls were more efficiently transferred into supernatants than tocopherols and β-carotene. cis-Carotenoids, epoxy-xanthophylls and ester forms were also transferred. The results are consistent with observations in other in vitro digestion models and human studies and support the usefulness of in vitro assessment to study food-related determinants of the bioavailability of carotenoids and tocopherols from fruits and vegetables.