{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,27]],"date-time":"2026-06-27T05:46:19Z","timestamp":1782539179505,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781827200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Pregnancy is a vital period during which maternal nutrition profoundly influences both maternal health and fetal development. Carotenoids, predominantly found in fruits and vegetables, are bioactive compounds that enhance antioxidant defenses and facilitate vitamin A metabolism throughout pregnancy. However, assessing carotenoids intake presents challenges due to the lack of dietary assessment tools capable of quantifying individual carotenoids, coupled with limited data from populations in Eastern Europe. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 621 pregnant women in Romania was conducted to estimate dietary carotenoids intake and investigate associations with dietary patterns and overall diet quality. Dietary data were obtained using the EPIC Food Frequency Questionnaire (EPIC-FFQ), adapted for Romanian populations. A dedicated carotenoid estimation model was developed utilizing the USDA Carotenoid Database. Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to identify dietary patterns, and diet quality was evaluated using the Diet Quality Index during Pregnancy (DQI-P). Results: The findings revealed significant individual variability. The median intake was highest for \u03b2-carotene (2464 \u03bcg), and lycopene (1664 \u03bcg), followed by lutein and zeaxanthin (908 \u03bcg), \u03b1-carotene (615 \u03bcg), and \u03b2-cryptoxanthin (121 \u03bcg). The Vegetable-meal pattern exhibited the strongest positive correlation with carotenoids intake, whereas the Energy-dense pattern was primarily associated with vitamin E and tocopherols\/tocotrienols, and the Mixed pattern with vitamins A and D. Higher DQI-P scores were consistently correlated with increased carotenoids consumption. Conclusions: Overall, maternal carotenoids intake during pregnancy was frequently insufficient and showed considerable variation among women. A diet rich in vegetables and higher overall diet quality were associated with elevated carotenoids intake levels. These findings enhance the understanding of dietary carotenoids intake among pregnant women in Eastern Europe.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18121999","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T14:37:42Z","timestamp":1781879862000},"page":"1999","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Evaluating Carotenoids Intake of Pregnant Women: A FFQ-Based Approach to Dietary Patterns"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-3636-8678","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreea-Maria","family":"Mitran","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0639-0479","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alina-Delia","family":"Popa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Catalin-Mihail","family":"Chiru","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, Splaiul Independentei No. 313, 011061 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1981-8246","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cornelia","family":"Mircea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-4803-3746","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ionut Iulian","family":"Lungu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1615-4824","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ioana-Cezara","family":"Caba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andreea","family":"Lungu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cristina","family":"Arsene","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9717-7958","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dumitru","family":"Gafitanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Florina","family":"Crivoi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Monica","family":"Hancianu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cristina Elena","family":"Dobre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Psychiatry \u201cSocola\u201d Iasi, Str. Bucium 36, 700282 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9173-4832","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Oana","family":"Cioanca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Pharmacy, Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi, 16 Universitatii Street, 700115 Iasi, Romania"},{"name":"Institute of Psychiatry \u201cSocola\u201d Iasi, Str. Bucium 36, 700282 Iasi, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1016\/j.abb.2018.06.001","article-title":"Carotenoids in Human Nutrition and Health","volume":"652","author":"Eggersdorfer","year":"2018","journal-title":"Arch. Biochem. Biophys."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zieli\u0144ska, M.A., Weso\u0142owska, A., Pawlus, B., and Hamu\u0142ka, J. (2017). Health Effects of Carotenoids during Pregnancy and Lactation. Nutrients, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/nu9080838"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"782137","DOI":"10.1155\/2013\/782137","article-title":"Dietary Intake of Carotenoids and Their Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Effects in Cardiovascular Care","volume":"2013","author":"Ciccone","year":"2013","journal-title":"Mediat. 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