Author
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Burri, Betty |
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Submitted to: Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety
Publication Type: Review Article Publication Acceptance Date: 12/3/2010 Publication Date: 2/22/2011 Citation: Burri, B.J. 2011. Evaluating the sweet potato as an intervention food to prevent vitamin A deficiency. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. 10:118-130. Interpretive Summary: Vitamin A deficiency causes over 600,000 deaths per year, mostly of young children or pregnant women. Sweet potatoes have been successful in preventing vitamin A deficiency in small scale interventions. We evaluated the data on carotenoid concentrations in sweet potatoes, their bioaccessibility, and on the effect of cooking and storage, and used this to estimate the amount of OFSP that would need to be eaten to supply 100% of vitamin A for one person at risk for vitamin A deficiency. The grams/day of OFSP needed to meet vitamin A requirements vary with age and sex, as well as with the amount of beta-carotene in the OFSP. Amounts ranged from 6 – 33 g/d (0.02 – 0.13 cups/d) for a 3 year old child with marginal vitamin A status; to 76 – 426 g/d, (0.3 – 1.67 cups/d) for a lactating woman with good vitamin A status. These are amounts that could be eaten by people at risk for vitamin A deficiency on a daily basis. The amount of OFSP needed to supply the vitamin A requirement to all of the 208.1 million people most in danger of vitamin A deficiency for one year is 2.1 – 11.7 million tonnes, or 2 – 11% of current world sweet potato production. The most important factor influencing the effectiveness of sweet potato for preventing vitamin A deficiency, by far, is the variety of sweet potato used. However, fat in the diet is also important. We conclude that OFSP could prevent vitamin A deficiency in many food deficit countries—if OFSP were substituted for white, cream, yellow or purple sweet potatoes. Technical Abstract: Vitamin A deficiency causes over 600,000 deaths per year, mostly of young children or pregnant women. Populations prone to vitamin A deficiency obtain about 82% of their vitamin A from the plant sources that are rich in pro-vitamin A carotenoids such as beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is found in many green or orange vegetables, but orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) are an especially good source. We evaluated the data on carotenoid concentrations in sweet potatoes, bioaccessibility, and the effect of cooking and storage, and used this to estimate the amount of OFSP that would need to be eaten to supply 100% of vitamin A for one person at risk for vitamin A deficiency. The grams/day of OFSP needed to meet vitamin A requirements vary with age and sex, as well as with the amount of beta-carotene in the OFSP. Amounts ranged from 6 – 33 g/d (0.02 – 0.13 cups/d) for a 3 year old child with marginal vitamin A status; to 76 – 426 g/d, (0.3 – 1.67 cups/d) for a lactating woman with good vitamin A status. These are amounts that could be eaten by people at risk for vitamin A deficiency on a daily basis. The amount of OFSP needed to supply the vitamin A requirement to all of the 208.1 million people most in danger of vitamin A deficiency for one year is 2.1 – 11.7 million tonnes, or 2 – 11% of current world sweet potato production. The most important factor influencing the effectiveness of sweet potato for preventing vitamin A deficiency, by far, is the variety of sweet potato used. Fat in the diet is also important. We conclude that OFSP could prevent vitamin A deficiency in many food deficit countries—if OFSP were substituted for white, cream, yellow or purple sweet potatoes. |
