European database of carotenoid levels in foods. Factors affecting carotenoid content

This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Carotenoids as Functional Food Ingredients.

Many studies indicate that diets including carotenoid-rich foods have positive effects on human health. Some of these compounds are precursors of the essential nutrient vitamin A. The present work is aimed at implementing a database of carotenoid contents of foods available in the European market. Factors affecting carotenoid content were also discussed. Analytical data available in peer-reviewed scientific literature from 1990 to 2018 and obtained by HPLC/UHPLC were considered. The database includes foods classified according to the FoodEx2 system and will benefit compilers, nutritionists and other professionals in areas related to food and human health. The results show the importance of food characterization to ensure its intercomparability, as large variations in carotenoid levels are observed between species and among varieties/cultivars/landraces. This highlights the significance of integrating nutritional criteria into agricultural choices and of promoting biodiversity. The uncertainty quantification associated with the measurements of the carotenoid content was very rarely evaluated in the literature consulted. According to the EuroFIR data quality evaluation system for food composition tables, the total data quality index mean was 24 in 35, reflecting efforts by researchers in the analytical methods, and less resources in the sampling plan documentation.

This research article is based upon work from COST Action EUROCAROTEN (European network to advance carotenoid research and applications in agro-food and health, CA15136, www.eurocaroten.eu; accessed on 1 February 2021), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology, http://www.cost.eu/; accessed on 1 February 2021).

Peer reviewed