Watermelon Juice: a Novel Functional Food to Increase Circulating Lycopene in Older Adult Women
Ellis, A.C., Dudenbostel, T. & Crowe-White, K · Plant Foods for Human Nutrition · 2019 June 15
DOI 10.1007/s11130-019-00719-9
Objective
This feasibility study aimed to examine the effects of a one-time dose of 100% pasteurized watermelon juice on circulating lycopene concentrations of postmenopausal women after a 10-h overnight fast
Conclusions
This study concluded the that increased dose of watermelon juice significantly increase the circulation in older women. Thus it is an essential and easily available dietary ingredient in reducing risk of cardiovascular diseases.
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Insights
Results demonstrate that 100% watermelon juice is a palatable, effective means of increasing serum lycopene in older adult women, a group at risk for low carotenoid intake.
Watermelon is one of the few food sources of dietary lycopene. Because heat treatment increases lycopene bioavailability, ingestion of watermelon in pasteurized juice form may be an optimal delivery vehicle to increase lycopene levels in older adults. However, due to its lipophilic nature, there are concerns that co-ingestion of dietary fat may be necessary for efficient intestinal absorption of lycopene. Thus, this feasibility study aimed to examine the effects of a one-time dose of 100% pasteurized watermelon juice on circulating lycopene concentrations of postmenopausal women after a 10-h overnight fast. Blood was sampled from eight women before and 2 h after ingestion of 360 ml of juice, and serum lycopene was measured by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography. Circulating lycopene levels increased by three-fold (p < 0.001) with increases observed for every participant.
