. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jan 8.

Published in final edited form as: J Agric Food Chem. 2013 Dec 23;62(1):136–143. doi: 10.1021/jf403548w

Table 1. Provitamin A carotenoid concentrations, fiber and resistant starch content of feeds, feed intake, and theoretical retinol intake for Mongolian gerbils (studies 1 and 2)^a^,^b.

Component	β-cryptoxanthin	β-carotene	Hypothetical retinol	Neutral detergent fiber	Resistant starch	Feed intake/cage	Daily hypothetical intake/cage^c	Daily theoretical intake/cage^d

	nmol/g feed			%		g/d	nmol/d
Study 1
P value	< 0.0001	< 0.0001	0.53	0.048	< 0.0001	< 0.0001	< 0.0001	< 0.0001
VA -	ND	ND	ND	-	-	NM	-	-
G1	0.005 ± 0.001^C	4.45 ± 0.60^A	4.46 ± 0.60	10.6 ± 0.07^A	5.13 ± 0.14^D	10.6 ± 1.8^D	47.2 ± 8.1^D	94.3 ± 16.1^C
G2	4.08 ± 0.62^A	0.92 ± 0.19^B	5.00 ± 0.79	9.46 ± 0.45^C	5.73 ± 0.14^BC	11.5 ± 2.1^B	57.3 ± 10.7^B	67.8 ± 12.6^F
G3	0.006 ± 0.000^C	4.41 ± 0.35^A	4.41 ± 0.35	10.6 ± 0.33^AB	5.98 ± 0.08^AB	11.3 ± 2.2^BC	49.9 ± 9.7^C	99.8 ± 19.4^B
G4	4.25 ± 0.55^A	1.13 ± 0.20^B	5.39 ± 0.75	9.85 ± 0.58^ABC	5.87 ± 0.06^AB	10.9 ± 1.9^CD	58.5 ± 10.4^AB	71.0 ± 12.8^EF
G5	3.50 ± 0.35^B	1.52 ± 0.16^B	5.02 ± 0.49	9.08 ± 0.69^C	5.42 ± 0.01^CD	12.0 ± 1.9^A	60.2 ± 9.6^A	78.4 ± 12.5^D
G6	4.26 ± 0.49^A	1.04 ± 0.23^B	5.30 ± 0.67	9.55 ± 0.90^BC	5.97 ± 0.02^AB	11.5 ± 1.9^AB	60.9 ± 9.9^A	72.9 ± 11.8^E
G7	0.030 ± 0.046^C	4.99 ± 0.84^A	5.02 ± 0.86	10.1 ± 0.71^ABC	6.08 ± 0.02^A	11.3 ± 2.7^BC	56.5 ± 13.6^B	113 ± 27.0^A
VA +	-	-	-	-	-	NM	49.9	-

Component	α-carotene	β-carotene	Theoretical retinol	Neutral detergent fiber	Resistant starch	Feed intake	Daily theoretical intake/cage

Study 2
P value	< 0.0001	< 0.0001	< 0.0001	< 0.0001	< 0.0001	0.024	< 0.0001
VA -	ND	ND	ND	NM	0.31 ± 0.01^D	10.8 ± 0.20^AB	ND
60% Rice	4.23 ± 0.40^B	11.8 ± 0.46^B	29.5 ± 2.92^B	2.65 ± 0.53^D	4.54 ± 0.21^A	9.89 ± 0.66^C	291 ± 19.5^B
60% Potato	4.05 ± 0.52^B	12.1 ± 1.49^B	28.3 ± 3.75^B	4.63 ± 0.98^C	1.20 ± 0.01^C	10.4 ± 0.63^BC	294 ± 17.8^B
60% Banana	6.42 ± 0.94^A	16.8 ± 2.19^A	40.0 ± 4.89^A	4.62 ± 0.76^C	4.76 ± 0.78^A	11.3 ± 0.80^A	452 ± 32.2^A
60% White maize	4.15 ± 0.63^B	12.3 ± 1.62^B	28.7 ± 4.40^B	6.29 ± 0.90^B	2.35 ± 0.96^B	10.4 ± 0.67^BC	297 ± 19.3^B
Carrot only	4.17 ± 0.68^B	12.2 ± 1.81^B	28.6 ± 4.89^B	9.96 ± 0.51^A	0.32 ± 0.02^D	10.5 ± 0.41^BC	300. ± 11.9^B

Values are means ± SD, n ≥ 3 replicates (diet analysis), and n = 5 (feed intake and daily theoretical retinol intake). Means in a column with superscripts without a common capital letter differ. Feed intake and theoretical retinol are per cage (n = 2/cage, n = 10/treatment group). ND, not detected; NM, not measured; VA+, positive control; VA-, negative control.

The limit for detection for carotenoids is <0.001 nmol and that for resistant starch is 0.08%. Assay includes all resistant starch.

Daily hypothetical retinol intake assumes 1 mol β-carotene = 1 mol β-cryptoxanthin = 1 mol retinol.

Daily theoretical retinol intake assumes 100% bioefficacy (i.e., 1 mol β-carotene provides 2 mol retinol and 1 mol α-carotene or β-cryptoxanthin provides 1 mol retinol). This calculation (theoretical retinol X feed intake) accounts for losses in provitamin A concentrations over time.

Table 1. Provitamin A carotenoid concentrations, fiber and resistant starch content of feeds, feed intake, and theoretical retinol intake for Mongolian gerbils (studies 1 and 2)a,b.

Table 1. Provitamin A carotenoid concentrations, fiber and resistant starch content of feeds, feed intake, and theoretical retinol intake for Mongolian gerbils (studies 1 and 2)^a^,^b.