SUMMARY
Comparative study of the biological utilization of ß-carotene from synthetic and natural sources in rats
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the change in concentration of retinol and ß-carotene (BC) in blood serum and liver tissue of rats, after supplementation with synthetic BC and commonly consumed carotenoid-rich vegetables (carrot and spinach). Weanling male Wistar rats were randomly assigned in four groups of 16 rats each. The four groups of rats were supplemented according to the following feeding treatments: 1) Control group (0G), 0.2 mL corn oil; 2) Pure BC group (BCG), 60 µg RE in 0.2 mL corn oil; 3) Carrot group (CG), 60 µg RE in 0.2 mL corn oil; 4) Spinach group (SG), 60 µg RE in 0.2 mL corn oil. Analysis of retinol and BC contents in serum and liver was performed by HPLC procedures. The variance analysis showed no significant differences (a=0.05) in the increase of weight of the animals and in the increase of retinol and BC levels in serum and in liver of the four treatments during the four weeks of supplementation. The correlation analysis between levels of retinol and BC in serum and in liver showed no relation between these two parameters. A regression analysis of liver BC levels in the four treatments showed the following slopes of the regression lines: BCG, 0.909; CG, 0.451; SG, 0.444, and 0G, 0.203. These results indicate that the highest BC absorption was in the BCG treatment, whereas the BC absorption in the CG and SG treatments was approximately one half.

Key words: ß-carotene, retinol, vitamin A, bioavailability and rats.

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