Abstract
This study was carried out to prepare a copper database of Korean foods which can be used in calculating copper intake from dietary data, and to evaluate the copper nutritional status of Koran adults living in rural areas by dietary intake and serum copper concentrations. A copper database for 1,176 Korean foods was constructed (1) by analysing 112 Korean foods which are frequently consumed by Korean adults living in rural areas, (2) by adapting values form food composition databases from other countries-320 items from the University of Minnesota database, 201 items from the USAD database, and 25 items from U.K. database, and (3) by imputing values from similar foods for 518 food items. Copper intake of 2,034 Korean adults over the age of 30 living in Yeonchongun was Kyunggi province, Korea was estimated by 24-hour recall method. Mean daily copper intake of subjects was 0.98mg. Mean daily intake level of males was 1.11mg which was significantly higher than that of females, 0.88mg. There was a significant difference in the distribution of subjects by the level of copper intake and sex(p<0.05). Mean serum copper concentration was 14.8umol/1 and the percentage of subjects with low, adequate, and high levels of copper concentration were 23.9%, 69.4%, and 6.6%, respectively. The two food groups which contributed most to the dietary copper intake of subjects were cereals and grain products, and vegetables, supplying 46.2% and 12.7% of total copper intake, respectively. Individuallym, rice contributed most, suppling 31% of total copper intake, followed by soybean curd, starch vermicle, barley, etc. Plant foods contributed to 82.1% of the total copper intake. In summary, results of this study show that copper intake of Korean adults living in rural areas is low, and that dietary sources of copper are mainly plant foods. Serum levels of copper in the subjects were relatively normal. The copper database for Korean foods constructed in present study will be a valuable tool for the as-yet limited assessment of copper intake of Koreans. Such studies will contribute to the establishment of a dietary of a dietary allowance of copper and the relationship of copper nutriture and chronic diseases in Koreans.
