Bioavailability of vitamin E in rats fed diets containing pectin

Weanling male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed:o(1)a basal diet without supplemental vitamin E (-E)(2)a basal diet supplemented with 39 IU vitamin E/kg of diet (⁺E) or(3)an E supplemented basal diet to which 10 percent citrus pectin was added (+E+P). The animals were studied over a 56 day period. Growth rate as measured by body weight was noticeably slower in the +E+P group as compared to both the -E and the +E groups. The final average body weight of the +E+P group was 28 percent less (P<0.05) than the final average body weight of the +E group. No difference was observed in body weight between the +E and the -E groups. Plasma and red cell vitamin E levels in both the -E and the +E+P groups decreased rapidly after starting the dietary regimen. Parallel with this rapid decrease in red cell vitamin E level was a rapid increase in the in vitro peroxide hemolysis value in both the +E+P and the -E groups. At the end of the study, plasma vitamin E values (mg/dl) were 0.13±0. 1(-E), 0.04±0.2 (+E+P), and 1.08±0.17(+E) and red cell vitamin E values (ug/ml) were 0.44±0.10(-E), 3.49±0.30(+E+P), and 5.74±0.37(+E). Vitamin E contents of other tissues including liver, heart and lung were 3 to 4 fold lower in both the +E+P and the -E group compared to the +E group. These results indicate that the consumption of a diet high in pectin content reduces the bioavailability of vitamin E.