Effects of d-α-Tocopherol and Dietary Energy on Growth and Health of Pre-Ruminant Dairy Calves

Newborn Holstein bull calves were fed milk to support low or moderate growth and were supplemented with a complement of vitamins A, D, and E. The objective of the study was to determine the effects of dietary energy and vitamin supplementation on inflammation at the whole-body level. Calves were assigned randomly to one of four treatment groups (low growth, not vitamin supplemented; low growth, vitamin supplemented; moderate growth, not vitamin supplemented; moderate growth, vitamin supplemented) for five weeks. Vitamin supplementation tended to improve average daily gain in moderate-growth calves and significantly increased concentrations of retinol, 25-(OH)-vitamin D, and α-tocopherol in plasma in supplemented groups. Moderate growth calves exhibited lower concentrations of α-tocopherol in plasma and higher concentrations of serum haptoglobin, which is a protein associated with chronic inflammation. All calves exhibited elevated concentrations of the more acute indicator of inflammation, serum amyloid A, during weeks 1-3. These results indicate potential roles for vitamins A, D, and E in moderation of pro-inflammatory responses early in life

Phenolic, carotenoid, ascorbic acid contents and their antioxidant activities in bell pepper

Essential nutritional components are quantified in the study in addition to major antioxidants, carotenoids, phenols and flavonoids. Their antioxidant activities were also analyzed using DPPH, ABTS and hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging activities and by determining their iron reducing power. Results indicated that the highest quantity of nutritional and antioxidant components was obtained in red variety (4.63 mg/g ascorbic acid, 10.32 mg/g total carotenoid content, 61.50 mg/g total flavonoid content, 310.27 mg/g total phenolic content) followed by orange, yellow and green varieties. Similar trend was observed while analyzing their antioxidant activities by different methods. In studying correlation between components and antioxidant activity, a strong correlation was obtained for ABTS radical scavenging activity with total phenolic content (R2 = 0.722) and total carotenoid contents (R2 = 0.709), while moderate correlation was observed for ABTS radical scavenging activity with total flavonoid contents (R2 = 0.517) and ascorbic acid (R2 = 0.673)