Research Progress on Intestinal Absorption and Bioavailability of Carotenoids

Carotenoids are a group of fat-soluble pigments widely distributed in fruits and vegetables, which play an important role in protecting public health. Humans cannot synthesize carotenoids and must ingest them in food. Due to the poor solubility and instability of carotenoids, their bioavailability is usually very low. In this paper, the digestion process of carotenoids is briefly introduced and focuses on intestinal transporters such as SR-B1, CD36, NPC1L1, the absorption of carotenoids in small intestinal epithelial cells is described. The bioavailability of carotenoids is reviewed from the aspects of lipophilicity and chemical forms of carotenoids, food matrix, gastrointestinal digestive factors, host factors and the expression or activity of intestinal transporters.