Africa's ideal source of vitamin A

IN PARTS of Africa where food can be hard to come by, food improved with vitamins is indeed a boon to children and adults alike. In the Sub-Saharan region, vitamin A deficiency is a problem, since sources of this such as oranges, dark leafy vegetables, and meat, are either costly or not readily available. Whilst starchy foods such as white maize and cassava are consumed abundantly, these, however are not sources of vitamin A. Orange maize on the other hand, contains beta-carotene, and is likely to provide people in this region with up to 50% of their daily vitamin A requirement.

To find out, researchers set out to conduct an efficacy study in the Eastern Province of Zambia where three random groups of children were assigned to consume either white maize, orange maize, or a daily vitamin A supplement. After three months, the groups that received either the orange maize or vitamin A supplements showed significant increases in their total body stores of vitamin A, with no changes observed in the group that received white maize.

Unlike the form of vitamin A found in supplements and fortified foods, the body regulates conversion of beta-carotene into vitamin A, and consuming high levels of beta-carotene is not harmful to health. Several orange maize varieties have been released by the governments of Zambia and Nigeria.

The study is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.