Beta-carotene Absorption and Bioconversion to Vitamin A From Biofortified Cassava Gari
Condition: Vitamin A Deficiency
MeSH terms: Night Blindness; Vitamin A Deficiency
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The goal of the research study is to determine the absorption, metabolism, and bioconversion
      of carotenoids such as beta-carotene to vitamin A from gari made with biofortified cassava
      compared to a mixture of red palm oil and gari made from typical white cassava.
    

Detailed description: 
      Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major public health problem in most of the developing world,
      especially Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The primary issue in vitamin A deficient
      populations is the low vitamin A content of the diet. Beta-carotene is the most abundant
      provitamin A carotenoid in nature and in human tissues. Increasing the concentrations of
      bioavailable vitamin A-forming carotenoids in staple foods by selective breeding is a good
      strategy for improving vitamin A status. Cassava, bred to contain high amounts of vitamin
      A-forming carotenoids is one such food, since it is a staple crop in Africa and parts of
      South America. A popular cassava product Africa is gari, which is fermented, dewatered,
      milled, and roasted so that it can be used for porridges and in baking. However, the effect
      of feeding biofortified gari meals on carotenoid and vitamin A concentrations in the body is
      not known. A common practice is to add red palm oil to typical white cassava gari. Red palm
      oil is a very rich source of alpha-carotene and beta-carotene, in highly bioavailable forms.
      Unfortunately, little is known of the bioconversion of red palm oil cassava mixture
      carotenoids to vitamin A.

      The primary purpose of this study is to determine the effect of consuming gari that is made
      from biofortified cassava on carotenoid and vitamin A concentrations. The investigators will
      compare carotenoid and vitamin A concentrations in individuals fed biofortified gari to the
      same individuals fed gari made from ordinary cassava. The investigators hypothesis is that
      the biofortified gari will increase carotenoid and vitamin A concentrations in
      triacylglycerol-rich plasma (TRL). The secondary purpose of this study is to investigate the
      effect of a meal of high carotenoid red palm oil added to typical white gari on carotenoids
      and vitamin A. Adding red palm oil to white gari should be an effective method for increasing
      carotenoids and vitamin A status in the gari meal, and thus humans. The investigators will
      match the amount of retinol equivalents in the biofortified cassava gari and red palm
      oil-containing white cassava gari. This will let us compare their effectiveness at increasing
      carotenoid and vitamin A concentrations in the TRL plasma fraction after consumption. This
      will allow us to compare their bioavailability and bioconversion efficiencies.
    

Intervention name(s): Biofortified cassava gari; White cassava gari; White cassava gari + red palm oil
Intervention type(s): Other; Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Cassava, bred to contain high amounts of vitamin A-forming carotenoids (primarily beta-carotene and its cis-derivatives).; Non-biofortified (white) cassava and a retinyl palmitate reference dose.; Non-biofortified (white) cassava gari containing red palm oil.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: vitamin A; retinol; carotenoids