Direct sun drying was accompanied with direct exposure to sun light and relatively increased temperature which were responsible for deterioration of total carotenoids and provitamin A contents (Table 1).
Retention of higher nutritional components like provitamin A carotenoids is essential to get the nutritional benefits and prevent malnutrition against vitamin A deficiency.
Unsurprisingly, the type of processing influences the level of provitamin A retention in OSP.
Provitamin A carotenoid degradation occurs during storage due to oxygen and temperature conditions that chemically oxidize the trans-beta-carotene [14].
Carotenoid Identificatioin Parameters Retention time (min) 1 Lutein 11.9-12.4 2 [alpha]-cryptoxanthin / Zeinoxanthin 18.5-19.4 3 [beta]-cryptoxanthin 19.4-20.3 4 [alpha]-carotene 28.4-29.4 5 Trans-[beta]-carotene 29.9-30.9 6 Cis-[beta]-carotene 31.5-32.7 -- Total carotenoids -- --
Provitamin A (RAE/100g) -- Peak no.
Stored vitamin A will help meet your needs when intake of provitamin A carotenoids or vitamin A is low (19, 20).
The IOM states that "B-carotene supplements are not advisable for the general population", although they also state that this advice "does not pertain to the possible use of supplemental B-carotene as a provitamin A source for the prevention of vitamin A deficiency in populations with inadequate vitamin A nutriture" (13).
Similarly, HarvestPlus and its partners have developed analytical methods for provitamin A carotenoid analysis in sweet potato, cassava, maize, and banana.
Conventionally bred orange sweet potato (OSP) containing provitamin A was the first biofortified crop developed and released by the International Potato Center (CIP), HarvestPlus, and its partners.
Furthermore, they were able to turn a white-rooted cassava cultivar into a yellow-rooted plant that accumulates beta-carotene (
provitamin A) using a transgenic approach that increased the enzyme phytoene synthase in the root.
This chapter provides an overview of: (i) the policy background and justification for developing, introducing, and scaling up use of
provitamin A varieties in Zambia, (ii) an overview of crop development activities, (iii) the strategy and experience-to-date with dissemination of orange maize, and (iv) past and planned efforts to measure impact.
This chapter provides an overview of (i) the policy background and justification for developing, introducing, and scaling up use of
provitamin A varieties in Nigeria, (ii) crop development activities, (iii) the strategy and experience-to-date with dissemination of biofortified varieties of cassava, and (iv) past and planned efforts to measure impact.