Affiliations 

  • 1 Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Tokyo Innovation Center, Nanakuni Hachioji Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan ; Nippon Suisan Europe, Ouderherk aan de Amstel Zeist, The Netherlands
  • 2 Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) Zeist, The Netherlands
  • 3 Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Fine Chemicals General Plant Tokyo, Japan
  • 4 Nippon Suisan Europe, Ouderherk aan de Amstel Zeist, The Netherlands ; Institute of Bioproduct Development, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Skudai, Malaysia
Food Sci Nutr, 2013 Nov;1(6):409-15.
PMID: 24804049 DOI: 10.1002/fsn3.58

Abstract

The bioaccessibility of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in the forms of monoacylglycerol (EPA-MAG), triacylglycerol (EPA-TAG), and phospholipid (EPA-PL) during gastrointestinal passage was compared in this study using a dynamic gastrointestinal model (TIM system). The TIM system simulated the average upper gastrointestinal tract conditions of healthy human adults after intake of a meal (fed state conditions). In this study, the three EPA-rich oils were separately homogenized with full fat milk to obtain oil-in-water emulsions. Plain yogurt was added into the mixture at an emulsion/yogurt ratio of 4:1 (w/w) as the food matrix of the test products. The results show that the test meals containing EPA-PL left the stomach compartment most efficiently in comparison with the gastric emptying of EPA-MAG and EPA-TAG. The PLs also showed a significantly (P < 0.05) higher bioaccessibility of EPA (75-80%) in comparison with MAG (30%) and TAG (38%). The better gastric emptying of EPA-PL was likely related to the more stable emulsion of EPA-PL in the test meal. EPA-PL was delivered within the meal matrix into the duodenum instead of floating on the top of the test meal matrix. EPA-MAG had the highest amount of EPA that did not leave the stomach (68% of the test meal). The results from this work indicate that EPA-PL is a more effective form of EPA for a higher lipid bioaccessibility than MAG and TAG under the test conditions.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.