Medium Chain Triglycerides Promote the Uptake of β-Carotene in O/W Emulsions via Intestinal Transporter SR-B1 in Caco-2 Cells

This study aimed to elucidate the impacts of carrier oil types (long chain triglycerides (LCT), medium chain triglycerides (MCT), and orange oil (indigestible oil)) on the micellization and cellular uptake of β-carotene (BC) formulated in O/W emulsions, with an emphasis on the role of intestinal transporters. The micellization and cellular uptake of BC in the gastrointestinal tract were evaluated via an in vitro digestion model and a Caco-2 cell monolayer. And the interactions between lipids and intestinal transporters were monitored by nontargeted lipidomics, RT-PCR, and Western blot. The BC micellization rates followed a decreasing trend in emulsions: corn oil (69.47 ± 4.19%) > MCT (22.22 ± 0.89%) > orange oil (11.01 ± 2.86%), whereas the cellular uptake rate of BC was significantly higher in MCT emulsion (56.30 ± 20.13%) than in corn oil emulsion (14.01 ± 1.04%, p < 0.05). The knockdown of SR-B1 led to a 31.63% loss of BC cellular uptake from MCT micelles but had no effect on corn oil micelles. Lipidomics and transporter analysis revealed that TG (10:0/10:0/12:0) and TG (10:0/12:0/12:0) might be the fingerprint lipids that promoted the cellular absorption of BC-MCT micelles via stimulating the mRNA expression of SR-B1.