Dietary folate forms and dietary folate equivalents

THE CONTEXT

Foods contain several forms of folate with differing absorption, so intake is expressed using dietary folate equivalents.

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Tetrahydrofolate is the active form of folic acid, also called pteroyl glutamate.

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Food folates may contain up to seven additional glutamate residues linked by γ-peptide bonds.

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One-carbon-substituted forms of folate may also be present in foods.

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The extent of absorption varies among different forms of folate.

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Dietary folate equivalents are calculated as μg of food folates plus 1.7 times the μg of folic acid used in food enrichment.

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