Vitamin A rich sweet potatoes make impact in Mozambique

摘要

Vitamin A deficiency is estimated to affect more than 200 million women and children in many developing countries, though it is most prevalent in Africa. The deficiency leads to ocular disorders such as night blindness, xerophthalmia and blindness. Interventions to address this deficiency include high-doses of vitamin A and vitamin A fortified foods. An easier way, however, is to develop varieties of crops that are high in vitamin A. This has been done with sweet potatoes and trials have been underway in Mozambique. The trials used the varieties of sweet potato which have a high b-carotene (the percursor of vitamin A) content. They are known as the orange sweet potato (OSP) because their flesh is coloured orange. The result of the trials, publishedin the British Journal of Nutrition, have proved that the OSP varieties are effective in providing vitamin A to malnourished women and children, where the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is very high. VAD can lead to impaired immune defenses and eye damage which can lead to blindness and even death. Annually, 250,000 to 500,000 preschool children go blind from VAD and about two-thirds will die within months of going blind.