Vitamin K content of cheese, yoghurt and meat products in Australia

TL;DR

This study quantifies vitamin K forms in Australian cheeses, yoghurts, and meats, revealing significant variability and highlighting the need for a localized food composition database to better estimate population intake.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of vitamin K vitamers in Australian foods, using advanced liquid chromatography techniques.

Findings

Vitamin K vitamers are present in all tested foods.

Cheddar cheese has the highest MK-5 and MK-8 concentrations.

Lamb liver and chicken leg meat have the highest PK and MK-9 levels.

Abstract

Vitamin K is vital for normal blood coagulation, and may influence bone, neurological and vascular health. Data on the vitamin K content of Australian foods are limited, preventing estimation of vitamin K intakes in the Australian population. We measured phylloquinone (PK) and menaquinone (MK) -4 to -10 in cheese, yoghurt and meat products (48 composite samples from 288 primary samples) by liquid chromatography with electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry. At least one K vitamer was found in every sample. The greatest mean concentrations of PK, MK-4 and MK-9 were found in lamb liver, chicken leg meat and Cheddar cheese, respectively. Cheddar cheese and cream cheese contained MK-5. MK-8 was found in Cheddar cheese only. As the K vitamer profile and concentrations appear to vary considerably by geographical location, Australia needs a vitamin K food composition dataset that is representative of foods consumed in Australia.