Vitamin E Content of Foods

Abstract

Commonly used foods, typified by those available in Rochester, N. Y., have been chemically analyzed for their total tocopherol and α-tocopherol content. On the basis of the results obtained, the average per capita consumption of vitamin E in the United States has been estimated as 14 mg of d, α-tocopherol (13 I.U.) daily. The richest dietary sources of vitamin E are certain of the vegetable oils. Cereal products and eggs are next in order of nutritional importance. Vegetables supply very little of the daily intake of vitamin E, both because of their low concentration of total tocopherols and because in most instances a large portion of the tocopherols present are the relatively inactive, non-α-tocopherols. Animal products, similarly, are rather poor sources of vitamin E because of their quite low and variable concentration of total tocopherols, practically all of which, however, is α-tocopherol. The tocopherol concentration in animal products is probably directly proportional to the level of vitamin E in the diet of the animals from which they come and, inversely, to the severity of processing and length of storage to which they are subjected. The value of cereal products as a source of vitamin E certainly depends upon the extent and severity of the milling process which they undergo prior to consumption.