Vitamin E as antioxidant

Many researches have reported that banana is rich in many bioactive compounds. This compound including vitamin E the major lipid-soluble component in the cell antioxidant defense system and is exclusively obtained from the diet.

Vitamin E has numerous important roles within the body because of its antioxidant activity and well recognized for their effective inhibition of lipid peroxidation in foods and living cells.

Vitamin E consists of four tocopherols (α-, β-, γ-, and ẟ-T) and the corresponding tocotrienols (α-, β-, γ- and ẟ-T3), which contain unsaturated side chains. RRR-a-T is the most biologically active form.

Tocopherols are widely distributed throughout the plant kingdom, α-tocopherol is the most widespread, being found essentially in the chloroplast. Other tocopherols are located outside the chloroplast.

The lipophilic extract of ripe banana pulp from several cultivars of the M. acuminata and M. balbisiana species has been found to be a source of α-tocopherol, thus offering well established nutritional and health benefits.

The biological activity of the tocopherols varies greatly and this variation is only partly correlated with the antioxidant action.
Vitamin E as antioxidant

Tocotrienols as antioxidant in food

Vitamin E is represented by eight different isomers of varying biological potency: four tocopherols and four tocotrienols differ in that the tocopherols have a saturated C16 isoprenoid side chain whereas the tocotrienols have a similar isoprenoid with an unsaturated side chain.

Tocotrienols as a group or as specific isomers have in recent decades been added to the food supply, either as ingredients added to foods or in dietary supplements.

Three major sources of tocotrienols are rice, palm, annatto. One of the biggest challenges in the food industry is keeping food fresh for extended periods of time. This is of particular concern when food contains monounsaturated or polyunsaturated vegetable oils and it is easily oxidized.

Therefore, antioxidants are added to prevent oxidation and preserve freshness. Palm oil and palm tocotrienols are being added to foods for this purpose. Tocotrienols are as efficient as tocopherols in quenching peroxyl radicals in solution whereas in membranes, tocotrienols seem to be more active.

Tocotrienols and tocopherols are powerful antioxidants – known as early as 1937 – for improving food protection and are shown today to potentially protection from cognitive decline. Tocotrienols can help human minds healthy by protecting the blood vessels going to the brain and maintaining proper circulation.
Tocotrienols as antioxidant in food

Tocopherols

Tocopherols
Seven closely related tocopherol compounds are known to occur in nature; they are identified by the prefix alpha, beta, gamma, delta, etc.

Tocopherols are the most widely distributed antioxidants in nature, and are the principal antioxidants in vegetable oils. Small amounts may be detected in animal fats, originating from the vegetable components of the animal’s diets.

As a result of their long alkyl chain, tocopherol are fat soluble, and are easily dispersed in fats and oil.

Vitamin E physiological activity decreases from alpha to delta homologs, while antioxidant activity increases in this order.

All naturally occurring tocopherols occur in the D form, whereas synthetic tocopherols contain a 50/50 mixture of the D and L isomers.

Synthetic D,L-alpha-tocopherol is marketed as an acetate ester for its increase stability to light and air. The physiological activity of D,L-alpha-tocopherol acetate, D,L-alpha-tocopherol, D-alpha-tocopherol acetate and D-alpha-tocopherol is 1.0, 1.1, 1.36 and 1.49 IU/mg, respectively.

Naturally occurring tocopherols are easily oxidized under adverse conditions. Tocopherols are heat sensitive and thus may be lost during processing operations.

Tocopherols functions as free-radical chain terminators by donating hydrogen atoms to free radicals, subsequently becoming oxidized to their corresponding quinone forms.

Tocopherols exert their greatest effect in protection of animals fats (such as tallow) carotenoids, and vitamin A. Tocopherols also functions as antioxidants in bacon, baked goods, butterfat, lard, margarine, rapeseed oil, safflower oil, and sunflower seed oil.
Tocopherols

What is Vitamin E?

What is Vitamin E?
Vitamin E, of which there are four different forms (the tocopherol), is fat soluble. The tocopherols have the same name except with the prefix alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta- (the first four letters of the Greek alphabet). The four compounds are closely related, with some difference in the molecular weight and in the position and number of certain molecular constituents.




Function of Vitamin E
The vitamin is an antioxidant that serves to prevent the oxidation of some body components, such as unsaturated fatty acids, and is necessary for reproduction. Almost all foods contain some vitamin E, although corn oil, cottonseed oil, margarine, and peanut oil are especially good sources of this vitamin.


Vitamin E deficiency
While the symptoms for vitamin E deficiency in humans are not clearly established, experiments with various animals have shown that vitamin E deficiency has an adverse effect on reproduction with apparent irreversible injury to the germinal epithelium. Other symptoms noted in animal studies include injury to the central nervous system, growth retardation, muscular dystrophy, and interference with normal heart action.
What is Vitamin E?