The Stability of Coenzyme Q₁₀ in Fortified Foods

Igor Pravst,^1,2,* Mirko Prošek,³ Alenka Golc Wondra,³ Katja Žmitek⁴ and Janko Žmitek⁴

¹ Nutrition Institute, Vodnikova 126, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
² Valens Int., Kidričeva 24b, 3000 Celje, Slovenia
³ National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
⁴ VIST – Higher School of Applied Sciences, Cesta na Brdo 69, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
* Corresponding author: E-mail: igor.pravst@nutris.org

Abstract
Coenzyme Q₁₀ (CoQ₁₀), also known as Ubiquinone, is a natural antioxidant with a fundamental role in cellular bioenergetics. Endogenous tissue levels drop progressively with increasing age and a deficiency has also been observed in various medical conditions and lifestyles. The limited supply to the organism by foods has been further reduced by food processing as it is known that processed products and foods with a lower amount of fat usually have smaller amounts of CoQ₁₀. This and the numerous health benefits of its supplementation are the main reason triggering the interest of the food industry which has started to use this compound to fortify food products. Due to its lipophilicity, until recently this goal was not easily achievable with most products. Forms of CoQ₁₀ with increased water-solubility or dispersibility have been developed for this purpose, allowing the fortification of aqueous products. We studied the stability of Coenzyme Q₁₀ in some fortified products that were enriched by water-soluble inclusion complex of CoQ₁₀ and β-cyclodextrin (Q10Vital), with the use of different technological processes; fruit-based products, milk, yoghurt and some other dairy products have been investigated. The level of CoQ₁₀ in form of Q10Vital in studied products was determined to be stable. The enrichment of some types of products (i.e. curd) should be performed at the end, especially if fermentation is a step in the technological process.

Keywords: CoQ₁₀, Ubiquinone, Q10Vital, Stability, Fortification, Functional Food