Red palm oil as a source of beta-carotene for combating vitamin A deficiency.

Abstract

Twenty four school children of 7-9 years of age were divided into two groups of six boys and six girls each. One group was given a daily supplement of 'Suji halwa', a sweet snack made with semolina and red palm oil, supplying 2400 mu g of beta-carotene and the second group was the control group which was given 600 mu g of oral vitamin A palmitate, for 60 days. Vitamin A status before and after supplementation was assessed by the Modified Relative Dose Response Assay (MRDR). Results indicated that serum vitamin A levels increased from the basal level of 0.86 +/- 0.13 mu m mol/l to 1.891 +/- 0.23 mu mol/l in the Red Palmoil (RPO) group and from 0.74 +/- 0.09 to 1.94 +/- 0.21 mu mol/l in the control vitamin A group. Dehydroretinol/Retinol (DR/R) ratio decreased from 0.073 +/- 0.025 to 0.023 +/- 0.004 in the RPO group and from 0.090 +/- 0.023 to 0.023 +/- 0.004 in the vitamin A group, indicating liver saturation with vitamin A after feeding RPO snacks, comparable to synthetic vitamin A. This study indicates that RPO is an efficient source of beta-carotene which is found to be bioavailable in all the subjects tested, hence it can be used for supplementary feeding programmes to combat vitamin A deficiency in target population.

• Authors: R Manorama, G N Brahmam, C Rukmini
• Journal: Plant foods for human nutrition (Dordrecht, Netherlands) (Plant Foods Hum Nutr) Vol. 49 Issue 1 Pg. 75-82 (Jan 1996) ISSN: 0921-9668 [Print] Netherlands
• PMID: 9139306 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Controlled Clinical Trial, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Plant Oils
• Serum Albumin
• beta Carotene
• Vitamin A
• Palm Oil

Topics

• Child
• Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
• Female
• Food, Fortified
• Humans
• India (epidemiology)
• Male
• Palm Oil
• Plant Oils (chemistry, therapeutic use)
• Serum Albumin (analysis)
• Time Factors
• Vitamin A (blood)
• Vitamin A Deficiency (blood, diet therapy, epidemiology)
• beta Carotene (analysis)