Vegetable consumption and carotenoids in plasma and adipose tissue in Malaga, Spain

Objective: To study relationships between habitual dietary intake, adipose tissue concentrations of alpha-carotene; beta carotene and lycopene, and plasma concentrations of alpha- and beta-carotene. Design: Cross-sectional study including assessment of food habits by a food frequency questionnaire and 48-hour recall and determination of carotenoid concentrations in adipose tissue and plasma. Subjects: 51 women (mean age of 62 years) from the control group of the European Community Multicentre. Study on Antioxidants, Myocardial Infarction, and Breast Cancer (EURAMIC), Malaga, Spain. Results: In adipose tissue, beta-carotene was correlated with consumption of green pepper (r = 0.36; p <0.05) and lycopene with total fruit/vegetable intake (r = 0.28; p