Purpose
Concentration of carotenoids in the serum is a biomarker of mainly vegetable and fruit consumption. However, the levels of carotenoids in humans may decline with age and can also depend on body fat, alcohol consumption, and cigarette smoking.
Method
Food intake and characteristics of 159 randomly chosen women aged 56–75 years were obtained by a self-administered questionnaire. Serum concentrations of carotenoids were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Estimation of fat mass was carried out by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.
Results
The estimated total daily intake of carotenoids was 9.75 mg: α-carotene 10.6 %; β-carotene 35.6 %; lutein/zeaxanthin 27.1 %; β-cryptoxanthin 4.7 %; and lycopene 22.0 %. We observed statistically significant positive correlations between concentrations of serum carotenoids and their estimated intakes (r = 0.11 lycopene to 0.38 β-carotene) and fruit and vegetable intake (r = 0.15 lycopene to 0.30 β-carotene). Concentration of serum carotenoids positively correlated with education (r = 0.17 α-carotene to 0.29 lycopene) and alcohol intake (r = 0.02 α-carotene to r = 0.25 lycopene). Inverse correlations were with the age (r = −0.18 α-carotene to −0.42 lycopene) and fat mass (r = −0.15 lycopene to −0.29 α-, β-carotene).
Conclusion
In this population of healthy postmenopausal women, serum concentrations of carotenoids declined with increasing age and body fat mass. The concentrations were increased among women with high vegetable and fruit consumption, moderate alcohol intake, and high level of education.