IDENTIFICATION AND PRODUCTION OF LOCAL CAROTENE-RICH FOODS TO COMBAT VITAMIN-A MALNUTRITION

Objectives: To address, with respect to improvement of human vitamin A status by dietary approaches, the three theoretical postulates that: 1) the most practical and economical manner to increase the amount of dietary vitamin A available to low-income persons in low-income nation s is through plant sources of provitamin A carotenoids; 2) there will be constraints and limitation to the efficiency of a given interventio n approach related to behavioural, cultural, biological and botanical considerations; and 3) the nature of these constraints and limitations must be understood, and then overcome where possible, to maximize the impact of such interventions on the vitamin A status of developing co untry populations. Conclusions: We review how local plant sources of p rovitamin A that would be acceptable for the at-risk populations and o utline six settings and scenarios for the processing of carotene-rich foods: 1) cooking for hygiene; 2) long-term preservation; 3) compactin g to reduce volume; 4) formulation for specific consumers; 5) improvin g bioavailability and bioconversion; and 6) to increase 'value added' in commerce. We describe our experiences in Guatemala (with sweet pota to flakes), and those of others in the Caribbean, the African Sahel, a nd East Africa (with solar-drying for preservation of a variety of pla nts), and in Sri Lanka (with leaf concentrates) in promoting increased carotene-rich food intake, and the lessons learned from their evaluat ions. This overall approach to combatting endemic hypovitaminosis A in developing countries is evaluated within the constraints of: 1) the v olumes of plant-based foods required to satisfy vitamin A requirements ; and 2) the controversy over the true bioconversion efficiency of pro vitamin A from plant sources into the biologically-available active vi tamin. Descriptors: Beta-carotene, alpha carotene, provitamin A, hypov itaminosis A, green plants, yellow plants, orange plants, nutrient bio availability, food processing, dietary fat, developing countries.