Vitamin A deficiency is a world wide nutritional problem, especially in the developing countries. It afflicts severely, the health of pregnant and lactating women, infants and children. Unfortunately, women are the most vulnerable group affected by vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy and lactating periods.Different strategies like food diversification, fortification and supplementation are helpful in coping with vitamin A deficiency. Although food fortification is the most cost effective, long-term approach, for as low as 10 naira, women and children vulnerable to vitamin A deficiency can enjoy a mango a day to uplift vitamin A status. Vitamin A supports good eye sight, boosts ability of the body to fight infections and assists in bone development.Researchers, in confirming the potential contribution of mangoes to reduction of vitamin A deficiency, assessed the carotene content of fresh and dried mangoes. It is the carotene that is converted in the body into usable vitamin A (retinol).They found that both fresh and dried mangoes can supply 50 per cent or more of the daily required retinol equivalent for women and children.Writing in the 2008 journal, Ecology of Food and Nutrition, the researchers stated that fresh or dried mangoes are a significant pro-vitamin A source and should be included in food-based approaches aiming to reduce vitamin A deficiency.No doubt, many yellow/orange fruits or green leafy vegetables are rich sources of pro-vitamin A. These include mango, pawpaw, carrot, spinach, water melon, pumpkin, guava, apple, Spondias cytherea (English plum) and fruit of Parkia bioglobosa (Igba in Yoruba or locust bean). Also of importance are two yam varieties (Dioscorea schimperiana and D. bulbifera).But among all these fruits and yams, the carotenoid content of mango is the highest. Scientists in a Cameroonian study that compared the carotenoid content of these fruits reported in the Pakistan Journal of Nutrition that mango was the richest in pro-vitamin A carotenoids followed by the red pumpkin. Gauva had the lowest content for the different harvest periods.Although, the best sources of carotenoids pro-vitamin A in fruits are mangoes, pumpkins and water melon, the levels of carotenoids in these fruits increase with their state of maturity, ripeness and the region. In fact, studies on the carotenoid content of fruits found that it was higher in mature fruits harvested during the rainy season than in those harvested during the dry season.According to the study, tubers were comparatively poorer in carotenoids pro-vitamin A than analysed fruits. Taking into consideration the contribution of vitamin A from mango and pumpkin and their high availability, they submitted that foods can therefore meet the daily requirements of vitamin A for the population concerned, they wrote.In addition, sweet potatoes and red palm oil are an especially good source of pro-vitamin A. The more orange the colour of the potato, the higher itscontent of carotenoids.Scientists in an evaluation of the carotenoid content of its orange-fleshed cooked form said in the journal, Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, that this could be used to prevent vitamin A deficiency in many food-deficit countries. Although the best variety for the prevention of vitamin A deficiency is the orange-fleshed potatoes, its cooking and processing methods could affect the availability of the vitamin for the bodys use. Its accessibility increased greatly with fat, as is typical with other foods.Nevertheless, red palm oil is the richest naturally occurring source of beta-carotene. In fact, researchers suggested in the 2010 edition of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition that it is highly efficacious in improving vitamin A status among populations at risk of vitamin A deficiency.Certainly, a food-based approach is increasingly being emphasised because the dietary approach is sustainable, provides nutrients other than vitamin A, adds variety to the diet and is less risky when considering the teratogenicity that may arise from excessive intake of the vitamin.Ironically, a number of studies have shown that the intake of soups made from dark green leafy vegetables and red palm oil because of their richness in pro-vitamin A carotenoids with local staples such as garri (cassava farina), foofoo (fermented cassava meal) and pounded yam can contribute to protecting against vitamin A deficiency.For instance, researchers, while studying the vitamin A content of southern Nigerian vegetable dishes, their consumption pattern and contribution to vitamin A requirement of pregnant women in Calabar, indicated that the consumption of a portion size of many Calabar soups could help to meet their required daily intake of vitamin A.Such soups are Ikong ubong (Telfairia occidentalis, fluted pumpkin, iroko in Yoruba or Ugu in Igbo); Mon-mon ikong (Talinum triangulare, water leaf or gbure); Afang (Gnetum africanum, koko vine or ukazi in Igbo), Inyang afia (Amaranthus hybridus, green amaranth, inine in Igbo or tete abalaye in Yoruba)) and Editan (Lasianthera africana).Interestingly, the researchers in this 2009 study published in the Pakistan Journal of Nutrition indicated that the best of these soups in meeting the bodys vitamin A need is the Ikong soup.Carotenoids are a group of natural pigments responsible for the yellow, orange or red colour of many foods. Besides the well-known pro-vitamin A activity of some of these pigments, they have also been associated with a lower risk of developing diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and macular degeneration.Providing vitamin A to people with vitamin A deficiency appears to decrease the severity of diseases such as influenza and diarrhoea and reduces death in children and mothers by about 30 per cent.Besides, foods like pumpkin, pawpaw and water melon, which are the best sources of these carotenoids, play a double role, first as a source of pro vitamin A and then as an antioxidant.
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