Vitamin C content in fruits: comparison with food composition databases

Abstract publicado em: Translational Research and Innovation in Human and Health Science, Annals of Medicine. 2018;50(Sup1):S126-27, doi:10.1080/07853890.2018.1427445Introduction: Vitamin C, which is naturally present in fruits and vegetables, is a water-soluble vitamin, with crucial functions in humans. Several studies have shown an inverse correlation between the regular consumption of fruits and vegetables and the development of chronic diseases (1). Their beneficial features are linked to their nutritional and bioactive composition, where dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals content are included. According to Costa et al. (2) Food Composition Databases (FCDBs) are sources of information which provide detailed information on nutrients and other components in foods (2). However, for some foods there is a need to update the vitamin C content in some FCDBs. The aim of this study was to measure vitamin C content of 14 types of fruits and to compare the analytical results with the Portuguese and American FCDBs (3, 4). Materials and Methods: In 2016, 14 types of fruits were purchased on commercial areas in Lisbon (pineapple, kiwi, papaya, orange, lemon, raspberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, mango, banana, blueberries, pear, avocado and peach). Samples were manually separated between edible portion and non-edible portion. The content of vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbic acid) was determined by a previously validated HPLC method (1, 5). Results: The vitamin C content in the samples analysed ranged from 3.8 to 59.4 ± 1.1 mg/100 g of edible portion for peach and pineapple, respectively. The vitamin C content (mg/100 g) of some analysed samples, such as banana (11.4 ± 0.4 mg/100 g), avocado (4.2 ± 0.3 mg/100 g) and peach (3.8 ± 0.02 mg/100 g) were more similar to the ones reported in the Portuguese FCDB (10, 3 and 4 mg/100 g of edible portion, respectively) than to the values reported in the American FCDB (9, 10, 7 mg/100 g of edible portion, respectively) (3, 4). However, other fruits, such as kiwi, papaya and lemon, showed significant differences between the analysed samples and the reported amounts in the Portuguese FCDB. Discussion and Conclusions: Vitamin C content of the analysed samples differ more from the results reported in USDA Nutrient Database than from the Portuguese FCDB, which enhances the importance of analysing the fruits consumed in our country. Moreover, regarding the comparison with the data reported in the Portuguese FCDB, considerable differences were found, indicating that it is crucial to continuously update the existing information, since this data is fundamental for the assessment of dietary intake and health impact. References: (1) Valente A, Sanches-Silva A, Albuquerque TG, Costa HS. Development of an orange juice in-house reference material and its application to guarantee the quality of vitamin C determination in fruits, juices and fruit pulps. Food Chem. 2014; 154: 71–77. (2) Costa HS, Vasilopoulou E, Trichopoulou A, Finglas P. New nutritional data on traditional foods for European food composition databases. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 2010; S73-S81. (3) Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge. Tabela Portuguesa de composição de alimentos, PortFIR. [Web page]. Available in: https://insa.foodcase.ch/# (4) United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, USDA Branded Food Products Database. [Web page] Available in: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list?fgcd=Branded+Food+Products+Database&ds=Branded+Food+Products (5) Valente A, Albuquerque TG, Sanches-Silva A, Costa HS. Ascorbic acid content in exotic fruits: A contribution to produce quality data for food composition databases. Food Res Int. 2011; 44: 2237–42.This work was funded by INSA under the project BioCOMP (2012DAN730). Tânia Gonçalves Albuquerque acknowledges the PhD fellowship (SFRH/BD/99718/2014) funded by the FCT, FSE and MEC.N/