Introduction:

total antioxidant capacity (TAC) is considered as a reliable indicator of the antioxidant content of the diet and it is associated to a reduced risk of chronic disease.

Objectives:

to estimate the TAC related to the intake of fruits and vegetables in young adults from urban areas of Paraguay.

Methods:

a minimum of three 24-hour dietary recalls were recorded from a random sample of 190 university students in Asunción-Paraguay, between 2012 and 2014, to determine the intake of fruits and vegetables, their TAC value and the contents of specific antioxidants, applying the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data bases.

Results:

the mean value of the total vegetable intake and its TAC value were 262 g/d and 3,093 oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), respectively, distributed as follows: 76.9 g/d from fruits (1,624 ORAC), 57.9 g/d from fruit juices (444 ORAC), 47.8 g/d from raw vegetables (314 ORAC), 75.1 g/d from cooked vegetables (604 ORAC) and 4.5 g/d from legumes (106 ORAC). The mean C-vitamin intake was 73.2 mg/d, and flavonoids and carotenoids were present with 26.4 mg/d and 4,848 μg/d, respectively.

Conclusions:

the total fruit and vegetable intake, distributed by groups of foods, was low, considering the World Health Organization (WHO) fruit and vegetable recommendation. The TAC value related to vegetable intake was lower than those reported in other studies. The major contribution to both intake and antioxidants was provided by fruits, and the minor by legumes. Our results reveal the need to increase the vegetable intake above 400 g/d, including antioxidant-rich food sources.

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