Document Type
Poster Session
Publication Date
12-5-2014
Research Advisor(s)
Douglas Anderson; Chelsea Manion; Rebecca Widder
Keywords
Vitamin K, phylloquinone, warfarin, potlicker, greens, fat, leached, cooked
Abstract
Vitamin K, a fat-soluble vitamin synthesized by plants, is found in large quantities within green leafy vegetables, such as collard, mustard, turnip and spinach. These greens are commonly cooked with fat to enhance flavor. The vitamin K in these greens can leach out during cooking into the liquid portion of the pot, which is referred to as potlicker. Vitamin K activates clotting factors (II, VII, IX, and X,), which can lead to the formation of a thromboembolism (blood clot). People at a higher risk of forming blood clots are often prescribed warfarin, an anti-coagulant that acts as a competitive inhibitor of vitamin K. Due to its content of vitamin K, the consumption of potlicker can potentially cause interactions on the anti-coagulant drug warfarin, and thereby counteract the drug’s effect. This study seeks to determine if the amount of vitamin K leached from cooked greens into potlicker is dependent upon the amount of fat in the cooking solution and if the amount of vitamin K leached depends upon the type of green being cooked.
For this study, there will be four experimental groups along with a control group. Each group will include a type of green (collard, mustard, spinach, or turnip) with varying amounts of animal fat. Five grams of each of the respective greens will be prepared in four predefined categories describing fat content (no fat; low fat, 1g; medium fat, 2g; and high fat, 4g). Each sample will be prepared in one liter of water with the respective amount of olive oil. The samples will be prepared by cooking at a constant temperature for set time intervals. Samples will be collected, where High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) will determine the vitamin K content in each of the prepared samples. Data will be analyzed primarily via SPSS, with a priori alpha set at 0.05. Sigma Plot will be implemented to display simple linear regressions and thereby aid in identifying correlations between variables. ANCOVA tests will also be used to compare and contrast the four types of greens. All data will be stored in Excel spreadsheets for further use. The finding of this study will provide valuable information for individuals taking warfarin and for health care professionals involved in the care of those patients. As a result, it patient education on warfarin and its interactions with vitamin K will be better understood.
Recommended Citation
Anderson, Douglas; Bobka, Kara; Johnson, Matthew; Manion, Chelsea; Tesfaye, Samuel; Widder, Rebecca; and Willoughby, Joshua, "A Measure of the Amount of Vitamin K Leached Out from Cooked Greens in Potlicker" (2014). Pharmacy and Nursing Student Research and Evidence-Based Medicine Poster Session. 63.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/pharmacy_nursing_poster_session/63
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Included in
Chemicals and Drugs Commons, Nursing Commons, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Commons, Public Health Commons
