Major fruit and vegetable contributors to the main serum carotenoids in the Spanish diet.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the main sources of serum carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, lycopene, beta-cryptoxanthin, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene) among the fruits and vegetables in the Spanish diet, to be used in the design of food questionnaires and to provide useful information for epidemiological and comparative studies.

DESIGN

A Family Budget Survey from the National Institute of Statistics (1990-1991); an open questionnaire dealing with foods consumed over a one-week period; physical amounts consumed annually and during three-month periods. Calculation of the percentage contribution of each food on the basis of a standard portion as well as the carotenoid concentrations previously reported by our laboratory.

SETTING

Nationwide (urban and rural).

SUBJECTS

Twenty-one thousand, one hundred and fifty-five (21 155) randomly selected, private households throughout Spain (72279 subjects).

RESULTS

Nine vegetables (potato, tomato, green bean, green and/or red pepper, carrot, artichoke, spinach, lettuce and beet) and five fruits (orange, tangerine, banana, peach and watermelon) account for more than 96% of the intake of the major six carotenoids in serum, both on a yearly and on a seasonal basis. Fruit and vegetables provide between 3.0mg (in autumn) and 4.3mg (in summer) of these carotenoids per day.

CONCLUSIONS

In our population, a small number of fruits and vegetables can provide significant information on carotenoid intake (both annually and seasonally) to be used in the design of questionnaires for epidemiological studies, minimizing misclassification and errors. The marked seasonality of some products causes wide differences in the supply of, above all, beta-cryptoxanthin and lycopene.