Effect of Pea Protein and Arabinoxylans Mixtures as Emulsifiers on Vitamin E Absorption in Mice

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of pea protein isolate(PPI) and corn arabinoxylans (CAX) as emulsifiers on vitamin E bioavailability. The potential of PPI and CAX as emulsifiers for vitamin E delivery was evaluated by assessing their effect on: (i) vitamin E uptake by cultured human Caco-2 intestinal cells and (ii) vitamin E postprandial response to 10% oil-in-water emulsion enriched in vitamin E in a murine model. Tween 80 (T80) was used as a control emulsifier. A decreased α-tocopherol uptake by Caco-2 cells was observed when using PPI as emulsifier compared to the T80 condition. When combining PPI and CAX, especially at low doses of CAX, α-tocopherol uptake was equivalent to that measured when using T80. In mice, the postprandial response of vitamin E was significantly lower when using PPI + CAX as emulsifiers compared to T80. These results contrast with previous in vitro data, where vitamin E bioaccessibility did not differ when using T80 or PPI + CAX. Models for predicting the bioavailability of lipophilic nutrients when complex plant-based delivery systems are involved may not always translate to physiological efficacy, supporting the need for validation with in vivo models.