Abstract
Background
Estimated average folate intake in Sweden is less than 55% of the recommended daily intake (RDI) for women of childbearing age (Becker and Pearson in Riksmaten 1997–1998 Kostvanor och näringsintag i Sverige. National Food Administration, Uppsala, pp 34, 44, 121, 2002). Because a good folate status reduces the risk of neural tube defects, mandatory folic acid fortification is discussed in some European countries. This however, could lead to exposure to unintentionally high amounts of folic acid for some population groups, therefore targeted folic acid fortification could be an alternative.
Aims
To (1) determine natural folate content in three popular brands of orange juice sold in Sweden, (2) determine stability of natural folate and folic acid fortificant during shelf life in a folic acid/iron fortified orange juice, (3) determine folate stability in four juices during simulated household consumption for one week and (4) determine the in vitro bioaccessibility of natural folate in one brand of orange juice using the TNO gastroIntestinal Model (TIM).
Methods
Natural folate content in juices was determined using RP-HPLC-FL. To determine folic acid content and confirm RP-HPLC-FL values LCMS was used. Stability during shelf life was determined in unopened bottles of a folic acid/iron fortified juice and for one week in four popular juices under household consumption conditions with reopening of bottles daily. For an in vitro folate bioaccessibility experiment in orange juice the TNO TIM Model was used.
Results
5-CH3-H4folate was the dominant natural folate form in the juices with contents ranging from 16–30 µg/100 g. Shelf life losses of folic acid fortificant were 1–4%. During one week simulated household consumption 5-CH3-H4folate content decreased by up to 7% (n.s). Bioaccessibility of natural folate in orange juice was almost 100%. Most folate was released for absorption in jejunum between 60–120 min after trial start.
Conclusion
Orange juice may be considered a good source of natural folate in respect to content and stability during storage and simulated digestion. Moreover, added folic acid fortificant in a folic acid/iron fortified orange juice was stable during shelf life.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arkbåge K, Verwei M, Havenaar R, Witthöft C (2003) Bioaccessibility of folic acid and (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolate decreases after the addition of folate-binding protein to yoghurt as studied in a dynamic in vitro gastrointestinal model. J Nutr 133:3678–3683
Bailey L, Berry R (2005) Folic acid supplementation and the occurrence of congenital heart defects, orofacial clefts, multiple births, and miscarriage. Am J Clin Nutr 81:1213S–1217S
Becker M, Pearson M (2002) Riksmaten 1997–1998 Kostvanor och näringsintag i Sverige. National Food Administration, Uppsala, pp 34, 44, 121
Czeizel AE, Dudás I (1992) Prevention of the first occurrence of neural-tube defects by periconceptional vitamin supplementation. N Engl J Med 327:1832–1835
Day BPF, Gregory JF (1983) Thermal stability of folic acid and 5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid in liquid model food systems. J Food Sci 48: 581–587
Fletcher RJ, Bell IP, Lambert JP (2004) Public health aspects of food fortification: a question of balance. Proc Nutr Soc 63:605–614
Franke AA, Cooney RV, Henning SM, Custer LJ (2005) Bioavailability and antioxidant effects of orange juice components in humans. J Agr Food Chem 53: 5170–5178
George L, Mills JL, Johansson ALV, Nordmark A, Olander B, Granath F, Cnattingius S (2002) Plasma folate levels and risk of spontaneous abortion. J Am Med Assoc 288:1867–1873
Indrawati, Arroqui C, Messagie I, Nguyen MT, Van Loey A, Hendrickx M (2004) Comparative study on pressure and temperature stability of 5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid in model systems and in food products. J Agr Food Chem 52:485–492
Jägerstad M, Piironen V, Walker C, Ros G, Carnovale E, Holasova M, Nau H (2005) Increasing natural food folates through bioprocessing and biotechnology. Trends Food Sci Tech 16:298–306
Jastrebova J, Witthöft C, Grahn A, Svensson U, Jägerstad M (2003) HPLC determination of folates in raw and processed beetroots. J Food Chem 80:579–588
Källen B (2004) Use of folic acid supplementation and risk for dizygotic twinning. Early Hum Dev 80:143–151
Kariluoto S, Vahteristo L, Piironen V (2001) Applicability of microbiological assay and affinity chromatography purification followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in studying folate contents in rye. J Sci Food Agric 81:938–942
Kim Y (2004) Will mandatory fortification prevent or promote cancer? Am J Clin Nutr 80:1123–1128
Konings EJ (1999) A validated liquid chromatographic method for determining folates in vegetables, milk powder, liver and flour. J AOAC Int 82:119–125
Matella NJ, Braddock RJ, Gregory JF, Goodrich RM (2005) Capillary electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography determination of polyglutamyl 5-methyltetrahydrofolate forms in citrus products. J Agr Food Chem 53:2268–2274
Minekus M, Marteau P, Havenaar R, Huis in ´t Veld JHJ (1995) A multicompartimental dynamic computer-controlled model simulating the stomach and small intestine. Altern Lab Anim 23:197–209
National Food Administration (NFA). Swedish Database version 04.1.1. http://www.192.121.81.11/livsmedelsok/. Accessed 26 April 2007
Nilsson C, Johansson M, Yazynina E, Strålsjö L, Jastrebova J (2004) Solid-phase extraction for HPLC analysis of dietary folates. Eur Food Res Technol 219:199–204
Patring J, Jastrebova J (2007) Application of liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry for determination of dietary folates: effects of buffer nature and mobile phase composition on sensitivity and selectivity. J Chromatogr A 1143:72–82
Patring J, Jastrebova J, Hjortmo S, Andlid T, Jägerstad M (2005) Development of a simplified method for the determination of folates in baker’s yeast by HPLC with ultraviolet and fluorescence detection. J Agr Food Chem 53:2406–2411
Pfeiffer CM, Fazili CMZ, McCoy L, Zhang M, Gunter EW (2004) Determination of folate vitamers in human serum by stable-isotope-dilution tandem mass spectrometry and comparision with radioassay and microbiologic assay. Clin Chem 50: 423–432
Rychlik M (2004) Revised folate content of foods determined by stable isotope dilution assays. J Food Comp Anal 17:475–483
Scott JM, Rébeillé F, Fletcher J (2000) Folic acid and folates: the feasibility for nutritional enhancement in plant foods. J Sci Food Agric 80:795–824
Seyoum E, Selhub J (1998) Properties of food folates determined by stability and susceptibility to intestinal pteroylpolyglutamate hydrolase action. J Nutr 128:1956–1960
The Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health (2007) Nyttan att berika mjöl med folsyra i syfte att minska risken för neuralrörsdefekter. En systematisk litteraturöversikt. (Benefits of fortifying flour with folic acid to reduce risk of neural tube defects.) Stockholm, Sweden, SBU
Thomas PM, Flanagan VP, Pawlosky RJ (2003) Determination of 5-methyltetrahydrofolic acid and folic acid in citrus juices using stable isotope dilution-mass spectrometry. J Agr Food Chem 51:1293–1296
Ulrich C, Potter J (2006) Folate supplementation: too much of a good thing? Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 15:189–193
Verwei M (2004) Bioaccessibility of folate from several liquid and solid food products. Dissertation, Wageningen University, Wageningen, pp 62–64
Verwei M, Arkbåge K, Havenaar R, van den Berg H, Witthöft C, Schaafsma G (2003) Folic acid and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate in fortified milk are bioaccessible as determined in a dynamic in vitro gastrointestinal model. J Nutr 133:2377–2383
Wei MM, Gregory JF III (1998) Organic acids in selected foods inhibit intestinal brush border pteroylpolyglutamate hydrolase in vitro: potential mechanism affecting the bioavailability of dietary polyglutamate folate. J Agr Food Chem 46:211–219
Wei MM, Bailey LB, Toth JP, Gregory JF (1996) Bioavailability for humans of deuterium-labeled monoglutamyl and polyglutamyl folates is affected by selected foods. J Nutr 126:3100–3108
Acknowledgment
We thank R. Havenaar and M. Verwei at TNO for carrying out the TIM experiments. JO-Bolaget (M Torres) is acknowledged for preparation of folic acid/iron fortified orange juice and donation of juice concentrate. Folate standards were kind gifts from Merck Eprova AG, Schaffhausen. This study was supported by FORMAS and JO-Bolaget. G. Ekström, JO-Bolaget and M. Jägerstad, SLU are gratefully acknowledged for valuable comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Öhrvik, V., Witthöft, C. Orange juice is a good folate source in respect to folate content and stability during storage and simulated digestion. Eur J Nutr 47, 92–98 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-008-0701-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-008-0701-3