Degradation of vitamins during storage is the main problem that contributes to the reduction of the nutritional quality of EP (enteral nutrition). The breakdown of vitamins can be directly affected by the EP formula, the temperature during production, and the conditions and shelf life.
Chinese scientists studied the influence of various factors on the degradation of vitamins A, B1 and C, which are part of EP, and found out the following:
– the degradation of vitamin A is primarily caused by oxidation and isomerization under the influence of oxygen and light;
– the degradation of vitamin B1 was facilitated by a change in the pH of the product during storage;
– the degradation of vitamin C is higher than that of A and B1 during storage for 9 months;
– the degradation of all three vitamins was aggravated by an increase in the storage temperature of EP;
– the degradation of vitamin C was significantly affected by the effect of sterilization during the production of EP.
More details about the study can be found in the journal Heliyon