title: Folate content in fresh-cut vegetable packed products by 96-well microtiter plate microbiological assay.
abstract: Ready-to-eat foods have nowadays become a significant portion of the diet. Accordingly, nutritional composition of these food categories should be well-known, in particular its folate content. However, there is a broad lack of folate data in food composition tables and databases. A total of 21 fresh-cut vegetable and fruit packed products were analysed for total folate (TF) content using a validated method that relies on the folate-dependent growth of chloramphenicol-resistant Lactobacillus casei subspecies rhamnosus (NCIMB 10463). Mean TF content ranged from 10.0 to 140.9μg/100g for the different matrices on a fresh weight basis. Higher TF quantity, 140.9-70.1μg/100g, was found in spinach, rocket, watercress, chard and broccoli. Significant differences were observed between available data for fresh vegetables and fruits from food composition tables or databases and the analysed results for fresh-cut packed products. Supplied data support the potential of folate-rich fresh-cut ready-to-eat vegetables to increase folate intake significantly.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas y de la Salud, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad CEU San Pablo, Urbanización Montepríncipe, Crta. Boadilla Km 5.3, 28668 Boadilla del Monte, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: violeta.fajardomartin@ceu.es.
authors.forename: Violeta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fajardo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas y de la Salud, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad CEU San Pablo, Urbanización Montepríncipe, Crta. Boadilla Km 5.3, 28668 Boadilla del Monte, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: eaperte@ceu.es.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alonso-Aperte
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas y de la Salud, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad CEU San Pablo, Urbanización Montepríncipe, Crta. Boadilla Km 5.3, 28668 Boadilla del Monte, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: gvarela@ceu.es.
authors.forename: Gregorio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Varela-Moreiras
mesh_terms: D001937:Brassica / Q000737:chemistry; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000032:analysis*; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry; D007780:Lacticaseibacillus casei / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018724:Spinacia oleracea / Q000737:chemistry; D014675:Vegetables / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D005492:Folic Acid
keywords: Folate; Folic acid; Fresh-cut vegetables; Nutrient composition data; Ready-to-eat products