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Related Experiment Videos

Folate bioavailability.

Helene McNulty1, Kristina Pentieva

  • 1Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Ulster, Coleraine BT52 1SA, UK. h.mcnulty@ulster.ac.uk

The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society
|April 16, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Food folates have lower bioavailability than synthetic folic acid, hindering optimal folate status. Cooking and food matrix factors further reduce folate levels, impacting public health, especially where fortification is absent.

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Area of Science:

  • Nutritional Science
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Optimal folate status is crucial for preventing neural-tube defects and other diseases.
  • Natural food folates exhibit incomplete bioavailability compared to synthetic folic acid.
  • Factors influencing food folate bioavailability include food matrix, deconjugation, folate stability, and dietary constituents.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To highlight the challenges in achieving optimal folate status due to variable food folate bioavailability.
  • To emphasize the need for better understanding of folate bioavailability from natural food sources.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing evidence on folate bioavailability from various food sources.
  • Analysis of factors affecting folate absorption and stability during digestion and cooking.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Discussion of methodological variations in estimating relative folate bioavailability.

    • Main Results:

    • Folate bioavailability from foods varies significantly (10-98%) depending on methodology.
    • Food folate stability during cooking, especially in green vegetables, can substantially reduce intake.
    • Conflicting evidence exists regarding the role of polyglutamyl folate conjugation in bioavailability.

    Conclusions:

    • Incomplete bioavailability and instability of food folates limit their effectiveness in improving folate status.
    • Accurate data on food folate bioavailability is critical, particularly in regions without mandatory folic acid fortification.
    • Further research into folate bioavailability in human diets is a high priority.