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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Food Composition and Methods Development Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #100544
Title: CAROTENOID CONTENT OF U.S. FOODS: AN UPDATE OF THE DATABASE

Author
item Holden, Joanne
item ELDRIDGE, ALISON - PROCTER & GAMBLE CO
item Beecher, Gary
item BUZZARD, MARILYN - VA COM UNIV, RICHMOND, VA
item BHAGWAT, SEEMA - 1235-45-00
item DAVIS, CAROL - 1235-15-00 (RETIRED)
item DOUGLASS, LARRY - UN OF MD
item Gebhardt, Susan
item SCHAKEL, SALLY - UCC, UN OF MINNESOTA

Submitted to: Journal of Food Composition and Analysis
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/31/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: Holden, J.M., Eldridge, A.L., Beecher, G.R., Buzzard, M., Bhagwat, S., Davis, C.S., Douglass, L.W., Gebhardt, S.E., Schakel, S. 1999. Carotenoid content of u.s. foods: an update of the database. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 12:169-196.

Interpretive Summary: Fruits and vegetables contain carotenoids which may have health benefits. The accurate characterization of the association between carotenoid intake and various chronic diseases requires a current and complete database of food carotenoid values. The previous database was updated following a comprehensive review of new carotenoid literature and extensive analysis of carotenoid- containing foods. Data evaluation procedures were modified to accommodate recent developments. Values for alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein+zeaxanthin, lycopene and beta-cryptoxanthin from 237 references were evaluated. The new database was created using previous data, newly acceptable literature values, and analytical data to yield a database of 215 foods. Mean values, standard errors of the mean, number of studies, and confidence codes were tabulated for each food. A separate table of zeaxanthin values also was created. USDA Nutrient Data Bank numbers were assigned to facilitate the use of the carotenoid data with other USDA data. An electronic version of the new USDA-NCC Carotenoid Database is available at http://www.nal.usda. gov/fnic/foodcomp. This database provides nutritionists and dieticians with a convenient source of carotenoid food values for the development of diets and menus, and the assessment of carotenoid intake.

Technical Abstract: Accurate characterization of the association between carotenoid intake and various chronic diseases requires a current and complete food composition database of individual carotenoid values. The previous database, the 1993 USDA-NCI Carotenoid Database, was updated following a comprehensive review of new carotenoid literature and extensive analysis of carotenoid- containing foods sampled from major metropolitan areas of the U.S. The 1993 data evaluation procedures were modified to accommodate recent developments in analytical methodology and changes in criteria for numbers of samples. Values for alpha- carotene, beta-carotene, lutein+zeaxanthin, lycopene and beta- cryptoxanthin from 237 references were evaluated. The new database was created using previous data, newly acceptable literature values, and analytical data to yield a database of 215 foods. Mean values, standard errors of the mean, number of studies, and confidence codes were tabulated for each food. A separate table of zeaxanthin values was also created. USDA Nutrient Data Bank numbers were assigned to facilitate the use of the carotenoid data with other USDA data. This resulted in the disaggregation of many food item descriptions listed in the 1993 database. An electronic version of the new USDA-NCC Carotenoid Database is available at http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp.