Bioavailability of lutein from a lutein-enriched egg-yolk beverage and its dried re-suspended versions

Drying a fresh lutein-enriched egg-yolk beverage would extend its shelf life, however, functional properties should not be affected. It was investigated whether consumption of a dried beverage containing lutein-enriched egg-yolk significantly increases serum lutein. One-hundred healthy young subjects participated in this 6-weeks randomized controlled study. Subjects consumed either a "plain" control beverage (n = 26), a fresh lutein-enriched egg-yolk beverage (n = 25), a dried version of this beverage (n = 25), or a beverage composed of the dried individual components of the drink (n = 24). The fresh and both dried versions of the lutein-enriched egg-yolk beverage were able to increase serum lutein levels after 6 weeks of consumption (lutein change: -38 +/-47 nmol/L, +304 +/- 113 nmol/L, +148+/-79 nmol/L and +178+/-83 nmol/L for control, fresh, dried and combined dried group respectively; p<0.001). No significant change in serum cholesterol level was seen in the beverages containing lutein-enriched egg-yolk compared to the control drink.