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Absorption, excretion, and distribution of dietary antioxidant betalains in LDLs: potential health effects of betalains in humans^1,2,3

¹ From the Dipartimento Farmacochimico Tossicologico e Biologico, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.

Background: Betalains were recently identified as natural antioxidants. However, little is known about their bioavailability from dietary sources.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate the bioavailability of betalains from dietary sources.

Design: The plasma kinetics and urinary excretion of betalains were studied in healthy volunteers (n = 8) after a single ingestion of 500 g cactus pear fruit pulp, which provided 28 and 16 mg indicaxanthin and betanin, respectively. The incorporation of betalains in LDL and the resistance of the particles to ex vivo-induced oxidation was also researched.

Results: Betanin and indicaxanthin reached their maximum plasma concentrations 3 h after the fruit meal and declined according to first-order kinetics. The half-life of betanin (0.94 ± 0.07 h) was shorter than that of indicaxanthin (2.36 ± 0.17 h). Both compounds had disappeared from plasma by 12 h after intake. The urinary excretion of indicaxanthin and betanin over 12 h represented 76 ± 3.0% and 3.7 ± 0.2%, respectively, of the ingested compounds. LDL isolated 3 and 5 h after the fruit meal incorporated betalains at concentrations of 100.5 ± 11 and 50 ± 7.2 pmol/mg LDL protein, respectively. In addition, the particles appeared more resistant to ex vivo-induced oxidative injury than did the samples isolated before fruit ingestion (P < 0.05)—the higher the amount of betalains incorporated, the higher the resistance. The concentrations of vitamin E and ß-carotene in LDL did not change significantly after fruit ingestion.

Conclusion: Our results show that cactus pear fruit is a source of bioavailable betalains and suggest that indicaxanthin and betanin may be involved in the observed protection of LDL against ex vivo-induced oxidative modifications.

Key Words: Betanin • cactus pear • dietary betalains • human health • indicaxanthin • LDL

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