Nutrients bioavailability

Agriculture therefore depends on there being a sufficient supply of inorganic nutrients to plants. Cereals, vegetables, fruit-bearing trees or plants, and animal fodder require bioavailable nutrients, that is, nutrients in forms that they can use. Since intensive agriculture depletes many natural nutrients, synthetic nutrients (fertilizers) must be supplied.1-7 In particular, we need to fix the inert N2 of the atmosphere as soluble, reactive compounds such as nitrates, ammonia, and ammonium salts. Other major fertilizer components are sulfate, potassium, and phosphate ions. It may also be necessary to provide trace nutrients, such as cobalt compounds, or to remove excess soil acidity by treatment with lime (CaO). World fertilizer demand in the year 2001 is expected to be about 1.5 x 10s metric tons N, 7.6 x 107 metric tons P2O5, and 6.7 x 107 metric tons K2O these projections represent an... 

Apparently the zinc of these water insoluble complexes dissociates in the digestive tract or the complex is not strong enough to prevent the intestine from extracting the zinc. However, when phytate is present in the diet in 12 to 15-fold molar excess over zinc rats exhibit signs of decreased bioavailability of dietary zinc ( , 0). The metabolic balance does not measure true absorption, but a measure can be obtained over time of the amount of bioavailable nutrient under a given dietary regimen. Decreased bioavailability would be indicated by a decrease in apparent... 

A.V. Vahatalo, K. Salonen, U. Munster, M. Jarvinen, R.G. Wetzel (2002). Photochemical transformation of allochthonous organic matter provides bioavailable nutrients in a humic lake. Arch. Hydrobiol, in press. 

The spread and growth of Typha in the impacted zone may be directly linked to the increased supply of bioavailable nutrients liberated through an enhanced decomposition of P-enriched litter and organic matter. 

The term bioavailability has various definitions. Previously, the authors of this chapter have defined bioavailability as the proportion of a nutrient (or other food component) that is digested, absorbed and utilised in normal metabolism - with the practical measurement of bioavailability usually relying upon estimates of amounts absorbed (Southon and Faulks, 2001). Biological activity, or bioactivity , has been viewed and described as a separate stage which follows on from bioavailability in the journey of a compound from food to function. However, here we present a new definition of bioavailability that recognises the functional consequences of absorption. 

The mucosa of the GIT represents an interface between the external and internal environments. The expansive surface area is necessary for the efficient hydrolysis of foodstuffs and the absorption of energy and nutrients. The mucosa also influences the systemic availability of non-nutrient compounds in the diet, both beneficial and detrimental. Digestion and absorption of glucosinolates are critical determinants of health benefits (see Chapter 4) Similarly, the bioavailability and health benefits of phytoestrogens, such as genistein (see Chapters 5 and 10) are at least partly dependent on the carrier-mediated processes of absorption associated with the GIT (Oitate et al, 2001). Moreover, the metabolic activities of the mucosa can influence the systemic concentrations and forms of dietary phytochemicals, as exemplified by research with soy isoflavones (Andlauer et al., 2000). 

WISEMAN H (1999) The bioavailability of non-nutrient plant factors dietary flavonoids and phyto-oestrogens. Proc Nutr Soc. 58 (1) 139-46. 

A number of factors described as influencing carotenoid bioavailability were regrouped under the SLAMENGFll mnemonic. Species of carotenoid. Linkages at molecular level. Amount of carotenoids consumed in a meal. Matrix in which the carotenoid is incorporated. Effectors of absorption and bioconversion. Nutrient status of the host. Genetic factors. Host-related factors, and Interactions among these variables. Only the factors that affect the micellarization of the compound in the gut are discussed and summarized in Table 3.2.1. 

Schlemmer U. Decker H. (1993) On the mechanism of the copper-pectin interaction. In proceedings of Bioavailability 93 Nutritional, Chemical and Food Processing Implications of Nutrient Availability. U. Schlemmer (Ed.). Ettlingen, May 9-12, 494-500. 

Extensive studies on the effect of substrate concentration and on the bioavailability of the substrate to the appropriate microorganisms have employed samples of natural lake water supplemented with suitable nutrients. There are few additional details that need to be added since the experimental methods are straightforward and present no particular difficulties. Considerable use has also been made of a comparable methodology to determine the fate of agrochemicals in the terrestrial environment. 

S. A. Barber, Soil Nutrient Bioavailability, John Wiley and Son.s, New York. 1995. 

Soil solution is the aqueous phase of soil. It is in the pore space of soils and includes soil water and soluble constituents, such as dissolved inorganic ions and dissolved organic solutes. Soil solution accommodates and nourishes many surface and solution reactions and soil processes, such as soil formation and decomposition of organic matter. Soil solution provides the source and a channel for movement and transport of nutrients and trace elements and regulates their bioavailability in soils to plants. Trace element uptake by organisms and transport in natural systems typically occurs through the solution phase (Traina and Laperche, 1999). 

Barber, Stanley A. Soil Nutrient Bioavailability, A Mechanistic Approach. New York John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1984. 

Targeting poorly absorbed drugs to nutrient transport system is a successful approach to increasing oral bioavailability [7]. The two most important nutrient... 

Some drugs with low intrinsic permeability achieve acceptable oral bioavailability because they are substrates for uptake transporters, which normally function in nutrient uptake. The most prominent example is the peptide transporter, PepTl, which is active toward peptidomimetic antibiotics such as cephalexin, the antiviral agent valacyclovir [24] and other drugs. PepTl is natively expressed in Caco-2 cells, and adenovirus transduction has been used to increase PepTl expression levels [25]. However, the expression of PepTl was not polarized in this system and this expressed system appears to be of limited value as an improved screening model. PepTl has also been expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells and a variety of other mammalian systems [26, 27]. 

Phytate (myo-inositol hexaphosphate Fig. 15.3, structure 33) is found in many food species and can be considered as a phytochemical. Its role in the plant is primarily as a phosphate store in seeds, but it is found in other tissues as well, for example, tubers (Harland et al., 2004). Phytate and its hydrolysis products are anti-nutrients that chelate metal ions and thus reduce their bioavailability (Persson et al., 1998 House, 1999). This is particularly a problem with cereal grains, but pre-processing can improve mineral absorption from these foods (Agte and Joshi, 1997). There is some concern that high phytate foods could also contain higher levels of toxic heavy metals caused by natural accumulation. Plants also contain phytate-degrading enzymes that can also influence metal ion bioavailability (Viveros et al., 2000). 

The term bioavailability has different meanings in different contexts and disciplines. Numerous definitions of bioavailability exist. Research on the relationship between bioavailability and chemical speciation (forms) originated in the field of soil fertility in the search for a good predictor for the bioavailability of essential plant nutrients (Traina and Laperche 1999). It is well accepted that dissolved nutrients are more labile and bioavailable to plants than solid-phase forms (including sorbed species). The same has been considered to be true for organic contaminants and their availability for microbial degradation. 

Bioavailability of Metals, Nonmetals and Xenobiotics Immobilized on Soil Components, (4) Distribution and Activity of Biomolecules in Terrestrial Systems, (5) Interactions between Soil Microbial Biomass and Organic Matter/Nutrient Transformations, and (6) Impact of Interactions among Soil Mineral Colloids, Organic Matter and Biota on Risk Assessment and Restoration of Terrestrial Ecosystems. There were 2 plenary lectures, 9 invited speakers, 36 oral presentations and 45 posters. Dr. N. Senesi from University of Bari, Italy, presented an IUPAC lecture entitled Metal-Humic... 

In spite of all of this variety of approaches, covering a wide array of metabolism pathways, limitations also exist. Differences in the vulnerability of biofilms have been found to depend on the age, community composition and succession status of the community. In dense biofilms the transfer of contaminants may be limited, resulting in decreased bioavailable concentrations of nutrients or toxicants for the algae. Biofilms show an inverse relationship between metal toxicity and biomass accrual [26], and a similar relationship has been established with nutrients. Therefore, the colonisation time or biofilm thickness are relevant factors to be included in the procedure uses. 

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