Vitamins and Micronutrients Flashcards
What are Vitamins?
Vitamins are organic compounds that are nutritionally essential, vitamins typically function as co-enzymes or serve specialised functions.
What are the 4 reasons nutrients are added to food?
- Restoration
- Fortification
- Enrichment
- Nutrification
What is the purpose of Restoration Addition?
It is the addition to restore the original concentration of key nutrients that have been lost during processing and storage.
What is the purpose of Fortification Addition?
It is the addition of nutrients in significant quantities to render a product a ‘good’ as part of value adding. This also includes the addition of nutrients not typically present.
What is the purpose of Enrichment Addition?
This is the addition of nutrients in specific amounts of selected nutrients in accordance with a standard that is defined by a government agency.
Typically mandated
What is the purpose of Nutrification Addition?
It is a general term that encompasses any addition of nutrients to food.
What conditions do we need to consider when adding nutrients too food?
- That the nutrients will be stable under normal condition: Storage, Distribution and Use
- That the nutrients will be Bio-available
- That there will be no risk of excessive consumption causing an overdose
- That it will be suitable for its intended purposes and comply with safety provisions.
What is a RDA or RDI? What is a important thing to note about them?
These are the recommended dietary allowance or recommended daily intake. They are only guidelines that fit the majority of the population and should only be used as a reference.
What is bio-availability?
It is the extent at which an ingested nutrient undergoes absorption and utilisation within the body. However this does not refer to nutrient loss.
What three factors must be known to describes the nutritionally adequacy of a nutrient?
- The concentration of the vitamin at consumption
- The identity of various chemical species of the vitamin present
- The bio-availability of the vitamin species as they exist in the food.
What three factors affect bioavaiability?
- Physical composition of the diet will have physical effects such as increased viscosity, slower/faster intestinal tract movement, emulsion characteristics and pH
- The form of Vitamin, the form will dictate solubility, absorption, stability and covertability
- Interactions between other molecules may affect the vitamin that can affect absorption.
What are some causes of variation or loss of vitamins?
- Concentration of vitamins in fruit and vegetables can vary wildly between different growth factors such as climate, maturity, soil, cultivar characteristics and farming practices.
- Fruit veg and animal tissue are still able to undergo enzymatic activities after harvest which contribute changes in vitamin content.
- Post harvest changes in vitamin concentration are inevitable but can be exacerbated by poor handling practices which results in major losses of labile vitamins.
What are Vitamin A’s?
They are nutritionally active unsaturated hydrocarbons that are fat soluble.
These include- Retinol, Retinal, Retinoic Acid and Beta Carotene
Where is Vitamin A found?
It is found in animal livers,
It is not found in plants or fungi, however they have carotenes that can be easily converted into Vitamin A
What is the stability of Vitamin A?
Vitamin A stability is poor due to its ability to be readily oxidised.
