Scientific Publications by FDA Staff

J Food Comp Anal 2015 Aug;41:15-20

Phylloquinone content of herbs, spices and seasonings.

Presse N, Potvin S, Bertrand B, Calvo MS, Ferland G

Culinary herbs and spices contain a variety of bioactive compounds including phylloquinone, the most common dietary form of vitamin K. In this study, we analyzed the phylloquinone content of a large number of commonly available culinary herbs, spices, and seasonings. Samples of fresh herbs (n = 19), dried herbs (n = 28), spices and seeds (n = 26), seasoning blends (n = 9), and other flavor enhancers (n = 11) were purchased in Montreal (Quebec, Canada) and Washington (DC, USA). All samples were analyzed in quadruplicate using standardized HPLC procedures. Most fresh herbs contained between 450 and 1200 µg of phylloquinone/100 g. Dried herbs were even richer with some (cilantro, marjoram, parsley) showing concentrations of ˜3000 µg/100 g. Phylloquinone content of spices and seeds was relatively low (5–250 µg/100 g), while being highly variable among seasoning blends (2.3–1878 µg/100 g). According to our results, portions of only 3 g of herbs can increase daily intakes of phylloquinone by up to 100 µg, contributing significantly to the daily vitamin K intake. Herbs can thus be important food sources of phylloquinone and should be accounted for when assessing vitamin K intakes in research or in patients treated with vitamin K antagonists. Future research should focus on the bioavailability of phylloquinone in these products.