In vitro bioaccessibility of lutein from cupcakes fortified with a water-soluble lutein esters formulation

Bioaccessibility is a key factor in the successful development of functional foods, particularly when the food matrix is quite different from that of the natural source(s) of the target bioactive ingredient. Although staple foods contain xanthophylls, the amounts are relatively low to achieve the desired beneficial effect in health, and during baking degradative reactions may contribute to reduce such amounts. The addition of water-soluble formulation of lutein as an ingredient in the cupcake recipe to fortified the amounts of this xanthophyll in the final product, showed satisfactory stability degree and resistance to the baking process. In vitro bioaccessibility reached adequate efficiency levels, ranging 30-80% of the initial lutein content. Activity of pancreatic lipase over lutein esters was low, but the hydrolysed lutein was completely incorporated into aqueous phase. Indeed, the main lutein content in the aqueous phase remained in its esterified form what could facilitate subsequent hydrolysis by other mucosal hydrolytic enzymes. These results point to fortified staple foods as functional foods that may help to diminish the risk of degenerative processes related with deficient lutein intake/incorporation in humans.