Red palm oil in the maternal diet increases provitamin A carotenoids in breastmilk and serum of the mother-infant dyad

Background Despite vitamin A supplementation programs, vitamin A deficiency in children remains a public health concern in Honduras. Aim of the Study We investigated the effectiveness of short-term dietary supplementation of mothers with red palm oil as a strategy for improving the vitamin A status of the mother-infant dyad. Methods Lactating mothers in Colonia Los Pines, a barrio of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, consumed a total of 90-mg beta -carotene as red palm oil (n = 32) supplements (n = 36) or placebo (n = 18) in six e qual doses over 10 days. Carotenoids and retinol in maternal and infant ser um, and breastmilk carotenoids and retinol were measured before and after s upplementation. Maternal diet was evaluated by 24-hour recall. Results Mate rnal serum alpha -carotene and beta -carotene concentrations were increased 2 fold by palm oil compared with 1.2 fold by beta -carotene supplements. C hanges were significantly different in infant serum alpha -carotene but not beta -carotene among the three experimental groups. Increases in breastmil k beta -carotene were greater for the palm oil group (2.5 fold) than for th e beta -carotene supplement group (1.6 fold) and increases in milk alpha -c arotene concentrations (3.2 fold) were slightly greater than those of beta -carotene. There were also small but significant changes among groups in br eastmilk lutein and lycopene. Breastmilk retinol was not significantly diff erent among the groups over the treatment period. Conclusions Red palm oil in the maternal diet increases provitamin A carotenoids in breastmilk and s erum of the mother-infant dyad. The use of dietary red palm oil to improve the vitamin A status of this population should be further investigated.