Vegetables, green, leafy

Vitamin K is typically found ia green, leafy vegetables such as cabbage, broccoH, and spiaach at levels of 95—200 p.g/100 g of fresh vegetables. Cauhflowet at a level of 136 p.g/100 g also represents an excellent source of dietary vitamin K. Additionally, animal sources such as fiver and eggs provide good sources of vitamin K (11). 

Phylloquinone (vitamin Kl) is the form of vitamin K synthetized by mainly green leafy vegetables and such also appears in plant oils (soybean, cottonseed, canola, olive). Both are good sources for a daily supply, although the need of such a supply is still under discussion. Table 1 shows some good sources and their content of vitamin Kl. 

The body maintains an antioxidant network consisting of vitamins A, C, and E, antioxidant enzymes, and a group of related compounds called coenzyme Q, for which the general formula is shown below. The n represents the number of times that a particular group is repeated it can be 6, 8, or 10. Antioxidants are molecules that are easily oxidized, so they react readily with radicals before the radicals can react with other compounds in the body. Many common foods, such as green leafy vegetables, orange juice, and chocolate, contain antioxidants, as do coffee and tea. 

They are low in salads and fresh, green, leafy vegetables... 

In a clinical trial performed in China, the administration of 300 mg/day of copper chlorophyllin to humans who had detectable levels of serum aflatoxin due to unavoidable food contamination resnlted in a 50% reduction of median urinary levels of aflatoxin-DNA adducts. If health benefits from consuming natural chlorophylls were confirmed, it wonld be easy to add green leafy vegetables to a daily diet to obtain the benefit. Since leafy vegetables contain usually up to 200 mg chloro-phylls/100 g fresh weight, the intake of approximately 1 to 2 cups of raw spinach/day... 

Singh, G., Kawatra, A., and Sehgal, S., Nutritional composition of selected green leafy vegetables, herbs and carrots. Plant Foods Human Nutr., 56, 359, 2001. 

Carrots were also the main sonrces of a-carotene, whereas tomatoes and tomato prodncts were the major sources of lycopene. Lutein was mainly provided by peas in the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom. Spinach was found to serve as the major source in other countries. Lutein and zeaxanthin xanthophylls are found in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, particularly green leafy vegetables, but also in some animal products such as egg yolks. In all countries, P-cryptoxanthin was obtained primarily from citrus fruits. 

Hedren, E., Mulokozi, G., and Svanberg, U., In vitro accessibility of carotenes from green leafy vegetables cooked with sunflower oil or red palm oil, Int. J. Food Sci. Nutr., 53, 445, 2002. 

De Pee, S. et al.. Orange fruit is more effective than are dark-green, leafy vegetables in increasing serum concentrations of retinol and (3-carotene in school children in Indonesia, Am. J. Clin. Nutr, 68, 1058, 1998. 

Jayaranjan, P., Reddy, J.P. and Mohanram, M., Effect of dietary fat on absorption of (3-carotene from green leafy vegetables in children, Indian J. Med. Res., 70, 53, 1980. 

Kaur, B. and Manjerkar, S.P., Effect of dehydration on the stability of chlorophyll and P-carotene content of green leafy vegetables available in northern India, J. Food Sci. TechnoL (India), 12, 321, 1975. 

On the other hand, widely consumed vegetables and fruits are poor sources of zeaxanthin. The most commonly consumed are corn, - green leafy vegetables,as,io,4 persimmons, and orange juice (Table 4.2.5). The cis isomers of zeaxanthin were determined in very few foods 9-cis- and 13-c(i-zeaxanthin were found in com. - ... 

Mercadante, A.Z. and Rodriguez-Amaya, D.B., Carotenoid composition and vitamin A value of some native Brazilian green leafy vegetables, Int. J. Food Sci. Technol, 25, 213, 1990. 

Gomez, M.I., Carotene content of some green leafy vegetables of Kenya and effects of dehydration and storage on carotene retention, J. Plant Foods, 3, 231, 1981. 

Nettleton and others (2008) characterized dietary patterns and their relation to incident type 2 diabetes in 5,011 participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and found that high intake of whole grains, fruit, nuts/seeds, green leafy vegetables, and low-fat dairy was associated with a 15% lower diabetes risk. 

As in the case of polyphenols, some of the carotenoids contained in fruits and vegetables are bound to the DF matrix. For instance, between 20% and 70% of the (3-carotene and lutein in green leafy vegetables was found to be associated with the DF matrix. The bulk of the unreleased carotenoids was associated with the IDF, and a very small proportion was associated with the SDF (Serrano and others 2005 Goni and others 2006). 

Serrano J, Goni I and Saura-Calixto F. 2005. Determination of 3-carotene and lutein available from green leafy vegetables by an in vitro digestion and colonic fermentation method. J Agric Food Chem 53 2936-2940. 

Tarwadi K and Agte V. 2005. Antioxidant and micronutrient quality of fruit and root vegetables from the Indian subcontinent and their comparative performance with green leafy vegetables and fruits. J Sci Food Agric 85(9) 1469—1476. 

Lutein [E161 (b)J. Lutein is one of the four most common carotenoids found in nature. The EU classifies it as E161(b). Chemically, lutein is a xanthophyll and is similar to P-carotene. Although lutein occurs in all green leafy vegetation, egg yolks and in some flowers the commercial sources are the petals of the Aztec marigold and, to a lesser extent, alfalfa. 

TOTAL AND CAROTENE CONTENTS OF GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLES ANALYSED IN THE PRESENT STUDY (FW = FRESH WEIGHT)... 

Chlorophyll content ( S.D.) of four fresh and immediately frozen green leafy vegetables. 

V.S. Nambiar and S. Seshadri, A study on / -carotene content of some green leafy vegetables of Western India by high performance liquid chromatography. J. Food. Sci. Technol. 35 (1998) 365-367. 

Vitamin K Green leafy vegetables, meats, dairy produce Activation of blood-clotting factors... 

The vitamin K requirement is met from the diet (vitamin Ki) and microorganisms in the intestine (vitamin K2). The richest dietary source of vitamin K is green leafy vegetables but it is also present in meat and dairy produce. The structural formulae of vitamin Ki (phylloquinone) and vitamin K2 (menaquinone) are given in Figure 15.15. It was discovered in 1929 by Henrik Dam in Copenhagen, who discovered that it was necessary for the clotting... 

A problem with vegan diets is whether they can provide snfficient protein and some micronntrients. Foods recommended are whole grains and grain prodncts e.g. wheat, millet, barley, rice, rye, oats, maize, wholemeal breads and pastas) pulses and products made from them (e.g. peas, beans, lentils, tofu) fresh vegetables (including green leafy vegetables and salads) fresh and dried fruits nuts seeds (e.g. sunflower, sesame and pumpkin). 

Manganese gluconate [Mn(C H 0 )] is used as a food additive, a vitamin, and a dietary supplement (also manganese glycerophosphate). It is found in green leafy vegetables, legumes, (peas and beans), and brewer s yeast. 

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