The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 127 No. 8 August 1997, pp. 1475-1479
Copyright ©1997 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

Accumulation and Clearance of Capsanthin in Blood Plasma after the Ingestion of Paprika Juice in Men

Manuscript received 4 December 1996. Initial reviews completed 28 January 1997. Revision accepted 5 May 1997.

Kagome Research Institute, Kagome Co. Ltd., Nishinasuno, Tochigi 329-27 Japan and ^* National Food Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305 Japan

The pharmacokinetics of dietary capsanthin was measured in four male volunteers to assess the bioavailability of oxygenated carotenoids (xanthophylls). Capsanthin was used because this carotenoid was not detected in the men's plasma before ingestion of paprika juice. Supplementing capsanthin-rich paprika juice for 1 wk (equivalent to three doses of 5.4 µmol capsanthin/d; 16.2 µmol/d), the level of capsanthin reached a plateau (0.10-0.12 µmol/L) between d 2 and 7 and was not detectable by d 16. Capsanthin was distributed in the plasma lipoproteins (VLDL, 13 ± 3%; LDL , 44 ± 3%; HDL, 43 ± 3%) at the end of the experiment. In a separate experiment involving the single ingestion of paprika juice (equivalent to 34.2 µmol capsanthin) in the same men, the plasma concentration of capsanthin ranged from 0.10 to 0.29 µmol/L at 8 h after ingestion. In contrast, the elevation of the plasma concentration of an acyclic hydrocarbon carotenoid, lycopene, by a single ingestion of tomato soup (equivalent to 186.3 µmol lycopene) in the same subjects was minimal (0.02-0.06 µmol/L). The areas under the curves (AUC) for capsanthin between 0 and 74 h and for lycopene between 0 and 72 h were 4.68 ± 1.22 and 0.81 ± 0.17(µmol·h)/L, respectively. The half-lives (t_1/2) were calculated to be 20.1 ± 1.3 and 222 ± 15 h for capsanthin and lycopene, respectively. We conclude that the clearance of capsanthin is much faster than that of lycopene, although capsanthin is transported into plasma lipoproteins in larger amounts. This polar carotenoid may be metabolized in the human body more rapidly than lycopene. These data justify further research on the physiological functions of capsanthin and other xanthophylls.

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