Digestion process of vitamin A

Vitamin A and carotenoid are fat-soluble micronutrients, so they are assumed to

follow the fate of lipids in the upper gastrointestinal tract, and their absorption
presumably occurs in the upper half of the small intestine. The first phase of the
process of digestion is the dissolution of carotenoids and vitamin A in the fat
phase of meal. This phase is emulsified into lipid droplets in the stomach and
duodenum. The size of the droplets has apparently no effect on the efficiency of
the absorption of vitamin A in healthy human. There is no degradation or
absorption of vitamin A has been detected at the stomach level.

Vitamin A and carotenoids are hydrolyzed in the stomach, where gastric lipase
hydrolyses about 17.5% of the triacylglycerols. But the hydrolysis of esters of
vitamin A thus occurs essentially in the duodenum. The pancreatic juice contains
two main enzymes that could perform this hydrolysis: cholesterol ester hydrolase
(CEH) and pancreatic lipase (LP).

During the process of digestion, carotenoids and fat-soluble vitamin are

incorporated with other lipid into the mixed micelles. It is necessary for their
absorption by the enterocyte. Fat-soluble micronutrient transfer to mixed micelles
during dietary lipid lipolysis by the gut lipases can be affected by several factors,
including the micronutrient molecular structure, pH and bile lipid concentration,
and the presence of a minimal amount of dietary fat. Dietary fat stimulates
pancreatic juice and biliary secretion, bothe necessary for lipid digestion and
micelle formation, and provide the lipids necessary to structure the mixed
micelles. It is assumed that the higher the percentage of lipid micronutrient
incorporated in micelles, the higher its absorption efficiency.

Reboul E. Absorption of vitamin A and carotenoids by the enterocyte: focus on

transport proteins. Nutrients. 2013;5:3563-3581