ABOUT LUTEIN

Lutein is a natural pigment of the carotenoid family. It is widely found in nature, mainly in vegetables and fruits. In the human body, Lutein is found in tissues such as liver, pancreas, ovaries, testicles and in the macula, lens and retina of the eye. Just like other carotenoids, Lutein acts as an antioxidant, protecting cells against the damaging effects of free radicals and/or as a filter in light sensitive tissues such as the eye macula, lens and retina. Unlike ß-Carotene, Lutein is not a Vitamin A precursor.

Chemical structure of Lutein

Lutein is not made in the human body and has to be obtained from food (preferably spinach, kale, collard, broccoli, and peas). Nowadays, Lutein is becoming an increasingly popular active ingredient used in the nutritional supplements industry.

 


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LUTEIN IN NATURE

Lutein in nature is found mainly in vegetables. In general terms, Lutein is found in the green parts of plants and it is an important component of fruits, petals and some seeds. In the green parts of plants, in fruits and in seeds, Lutein is found in its free form, meaning that it does not have any other types of molecules attached to it. On the other hand, Lutein found in flower petals is chemically bound to various types of fatty acids. In these cases it is said that Lutein is esterified and is commonly known as Lutein Ester.

Free Lutein as found in vegetables, fruits or seeds.

Lutein Ester found in flower petals

 

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LUTEIN & ZEAXANTHIN CONTENT OF SOME FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

 

 

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LUTEIN AS A NUTRACEUTICAL INGREDIENT

 

In the nutraceutical industry there are several suppliers of Lutein, whether free or esterified. Those suppliers offering products with a high concentration of Lutein use marigold flower extracts as raw material. Other suppliers offer dehydrated spinach or alfalfa meal as sources of Lutein. In general these products offer a very low content (<0.5%) of Lutein.


In the nutraceutical market, Lutein is found in different presentations such as tablets, hard gelatin capsules or soft gelatin capsules known as "capsugel". Lutein is commonly blended with other ingredients (vitamins, minerals, plant extracts, etc.), but there are also presentations that contain only Lutein as a sole active ingredient.

 

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FREE LUTEIN versus LUTEIN ESTER

 

Free Lutein and Lutein Ester consumed as food and food supplements have similar bioavailability as reported in several scientific studies on humans. These studies have shown that Lutein Ester is equally absorbed as free Lutein by the body. Lutein Ester is hydrolyzed in the digestive tract and converted into free Lutein as it passes through the gut and then it is delivered to the blood flow and to the different tissues where it is deposited such as the eye macula 1, 2, 3.

In fact some of the studies conducted to determine the effect of lutein supplementation on the eye macula pigment showed that supplementation with Lutein Ester produced an increase in the density of the macular pigment as well as an increase in the concentration of lutein in blood serum.4


 

 

1 Herbst S, Bowen P, Hussain E, Stacewicz-Sapuntzakis M, Damayanti B, Burns J, "Evaluation of the bioavailability of Lutein (L) and Lutein ester (LD) in humans" The FASEB Journal, 1997;11:2587(Abstr.)
2Castenmiller J.J.M., West C.E., "Bioavailability and Bioconversion of carotenoids" Annu. Rev.Nutr.1998, 18:19-38
3Granado, F., Olmedilla, B., Gil-Martínez E., Blanco I., "Lutein ester in serum after lutein supplementation in human subjects" British Journal of Nutrition, 1998, 80:445-449.
4Landrum, J.T., Bone, R.A., Joa, H.,Kilburn, M.D., Moore L., Sprague, K., "A one year study of the macular Pigment: The effect of 140 days of a lutein supplement" Exp. Eye. Res., 1997; 65, 57-62

 

 

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1. ABOUT LUTEIN/ 2. LUTEIN IN NATURE/ 3. LUTEIN & ZEAXANTHIN CONTENT OF SOME FRUITS AND VEGETABLES/ 4. LUTEIN AS A NUTRACEUTICAL INGREDIENT/ 5. FREE LUTEIN versus LUTEIN ESTER/ HEALTH BENEFITS.