Carotenoid Bioavailability of Red Fruit (Pandanus conoideus Lam.) Extract on Rat Liver and Plasma

Abstract

Red fruit (Pandanus conoideus Lam.) is a native Papuan fruit. This fruit has potential as functional food because it contains carotenoid compounds that have antioxidant activity and provitamin A activity. The high content of carotenoid in red fruit makes the fruit used empirically to prevent and cure various diseases. However, it has not been known how much carotenoid from red fruit can be absorbed and utilized by the body. This study aims (1) to evaluate the caratenoid bioavailability of red fruit extract; (2) to the determine of the retinol accumulation factor and (3) to determine malondialdehyde content in rat liver. The study was conducted with the approaches of depletion and repletion carotenoid. After 14 week depletion period and 2 weeks repletion period, it was obtained that retinol accumulation factor in red fruit extract group was 49.02 and positive control group was 42.41. This showed that to generate 1 μg retinol in rat liver required 49.02 μg β-carotene from red fruit extract and 42.41 μg pure β-carotene. Rat liver malondialdehyde content in standards, negative control, positive control, and red fruit extract group respectively 8.97, 25.31, 20.68 and 42.86 ρmol/g.

Buah merah (Pandanus conoideus Lam.) merupakan buah spesifik daerah Papua. Kandungan β-karoten buah merah yang tinggi menyebabkan buah ini berpotensi dikembangkan sebagai pangan fungsional sumber provitamin A. Data WHO (2009) menunjukkan bahwa tingkat prevalensi defisiensi vitamin A pada anak-anak Indonesia usia balita sangat tinggi, diperkirakan mencapai 4261000 balita (19.6%). Begitu pula pada ibu hamil, tingkat prevalensi defisiensi vitamin A cukup tinggi yaitu sekitar 748000 ibu hamil (17.1%). Akibat dari adanya defisiensi vitamin A ini menyebabkan terjadinya gangguan fisiologis antara lain gangguan pertumbuhan, penglihatan, dan sistim imun yang pada akhirnya akan berpengaruh terhadap produktivitas. Kandungan karotenoid yang tinggi pada buah merah tidak menjamin bahwa keseluruhan komponen tersebut dapat diserap, diubah menjadi vitamin A (retinol) dan dimanfaatkan oleh tubuh.