Vitamin D produced in pig skin by 296 nmeter UV-LEDs

Created May 2016

Investigation of the effect of UV-LED exposure conditions on the production of vitamin D in pig skin

Food Chemistry, Available online 24 May 2016, doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.05.155

Line Lundb?k Barnkoba, Aikaterini Argyrakib, Paul Michael Petersenb, Jette Jakobsena, ,

* They want to increase vitamin D in meat products, but were restricted by how much vitamin D can be added to animal feed and did not consider having the animals outdoors. * They tested Vitamin D production in dead pig skin * 296 nanometer wavelength UV LEDs produced the most Vitamin D (no surprise) * much better than 292 nm and 300 nm * No attempt was made to pulse the UV-LEDs so as to increase peak intensity and skin depth * Note: VitaminDWiki has had excellent success with pulsing IR LEDs for LLLT * LEDs were purchased from http://www.s-et.com/ * Opinion: This does not appear to be a very cost effective way to increase Vitamin D levels in meat * Far better to put some other forms of vitamin D into the animal feed which are not regulated See also VitaminDWiki * Solanum glaucophyllum (a purple flower) produces active vitamin D3 * Feed chicken lots of vitamin D, get 6000 IU per egg with no change in production – Nov 2013 * UVB LED bracelet might produce 600 IU of vitamin D in 1 minute – Nov 2015 used 298nm LED

The dietary intake of vitamin D is currently below the recommended intake of 10-20 μg vitamin D/day. Foods with increased content of vitamin D or new products with enhanced vitamin D are warranted. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are a potential new resource in food production lines. In the present study the exposure conditions with ultraviolet (UV) LEDs were systematically investigated in the wavelength range 280-340 nm for achieving optimal vitamin D bio-fortification in pig skin. A wavelength of 296 nm was found to be optimal for vitamin D3 production. The maximum dose of 20 kJ/m2 produced 3.5-4 μg vitamin D3/cm2 pig skin. Vitamin D3 produced was independent on the combination of time and intensity of the LED source. The increased UV exposure by UV-LEDs may be readily implemented in existing food production facilities, without major modifications to the process or processing equipment, for bio-fortifying food products containing pork skin.

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LEDs used

Tags: UV