Table 8. Serum carotenoid and plasma vitamin C within quintile of carotenoid and vitamin C intake from FFQ¹.

	Quintile of serum carotenoid and plasma vitamin C level
Carotenoid	Lowest			Second				Third				Fourth				Highest
	Mean	±	SD	Mean	±	SD	ratio2	Mean	±	SD	ratio2	Mean	±	SD	ratio2	Mean	±	SD	ratio2
Men (n=86)
Total carotene	2677	±	1598	4023	±	2277	1.50	4718	±	6072	1.76	3655	±	1804	1.37	6847	±	4212	2.56
Alpha-carotene	348	±	243	432	±	337	1.24	793	±	811	2.28	543	±	296	1.56	1221	±	1219	3.51
Beta-carotene	2283	±	1791	3060	±	1544	1.34	4172	±	5109	1.83	2450	±	994	1.07	5366	±	3007	2.35
Lycopene	1819	±	2763	2702	±	3618	1.49	2441	±	3151	1.34	4687	±	5732	2.58	3973	±	4520	2.18
Vitamin C	191	±	192	165	±	96	0.87	175	±	70	0.92	125	±	55	0.66	168	±	97	0.88
Women (n=100)3
Total carotene	3844	±	2388	3070	±	1817	0.80	4865	±	4549	1.27	3900	±	2553	1.01	4152	±	2633	1.08
Alpha-carotene	402	±	336	380	±	285	0.95	604	±	717	1.50	725	±	532	1.81	622	±	406	1.55
Beta-carotene	2783	±	2004	2978	±	2010	1.07	3819	±	3885	1.37	2984	±	1766	1.07	3377	±	2144	1.21
Lycopene	2166	±	2027	2361	±	2988	1.09	3801	±	7273	1.76	4697	±	7399	2.17	2798	±	2440	1.29
Vitamin C	156	±	61	154	±	57	0.99	185	±	84	1.18	264	±	282	1.69	184	±	107	1.18

¹FFQ, food frequency questionnaire.

²Ratio compared to the lowest quintile.

³For vitamin C, women (n=99).