CHAPTER 13: Bioavailability and Metabolism of Carotenoid Esters

Carotenoid bioavailability and metabolism have been subjects of intensive investigation in recent decades. There is much evidence that numerous dietary and host factors influence the bioavailability of carotenoids, including their release from the food matrix, solubilisation in lipid droplets, partitioning in mixed micelles, assimilation by enterocytes, secretion into lymph and distribution to tissues for utilisation and storage. This chapter provides readers with a comprehensive review of the digestion, absorption and metabolism of dietary carotenoid esters and discusses the possibility of endogenous acylation of xanthophylls in animal and human tissues.