Author(s): BROWN, L., TARNOWSKI, C., RANDELL, R., PIMLOTT, E., HELSEN, W., QAQAYA, N., ROLLO, I., Institution: PEPSICO, Country: UNITED KINGDOM, Abstract-ID: 2466

INTRODUCTION:
Fruit and vegetable consumption is recommended to contribute to the macro- and micronutrients required for a well-balanced diet, which serves as the foundation for effective sports nutrition strategies. Traditional methods to quantify fruit and vegetable consumption in athletes, such as dietary analysis, are time intensive and prone to error. Analysis of blood plasma carotenoid concentration is the gold-standard biomarker of fruit and vegetable consumption, however, this method is invasive. The Veggie Meter® is an optical device that provides rapid, non-invasive measurements of skin carotenoid status1,2. This study aimed to evaluate skin carotenoid status in elite female match officials using the Veggie Meter®.
METHODS:
Skin carotenoid concentration was measured in three groups of elite female match officials: Football Referees (FOOT-R; n=27), Football Assistant Referees (FOOT-AR; n=34) and Futsal Referees (FUT-R; n=18). Match officials placed the index finger of their non-dominant hand onto the Veggie Meter® lens under a spring-loaded cover. The finger remained under topical pressure for ~10 seconds before removing and re-inserting twice to obtain an arbitrary score using reflective spectroscopy. Veggie Meter® scores were categorised based on fruit and vegetable intake as previously described3, anchored at 0-239 (severe shortage); 240-310 (shortage); 311-395 (average intake); 396-506 (good intake); >507 (excellent intake). Data were analysed using independent samples t-tests and reported as mean ± SD, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.
RESULTS:
Average Veggie Meter® score was 414 ± 92, with 1% of match officials categorized as having a ‘severe shortage’ of fruit and vegetable intake, 6% were categorized as ‘shortage’, 38% ‘average’, 37% ‘good’ and 18% ‘excellent’. No differences were observed between FOOT-R, FOOT-AR and FUT-R (427 ± 92, 405 ± 78 and 410 ± 109, respectively, p > 0.05). Overall, 4% of FOOT-R were categorized as ‘severe shortage’, 7% ‘shortage’, 26% ‘average’, 44% ‘good’ and 19% ‘excellent’. Results for FOOT-AR were 0%, 9%, 38% 32% and 21%, and FUT-R were 0%, 0%, 56%, 33% and 11%, respectively.
CONCLUSION:
This is the first time that skin carotenoid concentration has been assessed using the Veggie Meter® to assess fruit and vegetable intake in elite female match officials. Whilst ~50% of match officials had ‘good’/’excellent’ intakes, ~50% were below the recommended classification (‘good’). In addition, a greater percentage of FOOT-R were classified as ‘good’/’excellent’ in comparison to FOOT-AR/FUT-R. Future research is required to understand health and performance implications of low skin carotenoid scores in match officials and wider athletic populations.

REFERENCES:
1) Ermakov et al., Arch Biochem Biophys, 2018.
2) Jilcott Pitts et al., Public Health Nutr, 2018.
3) Obana et al., Antioxidants, 2022.