Evaluating Sweet Potato as an Intervention Food to Prevent Vitamin A Deficiency

Abstract

Vitamin A (VA) deficiency causes over 600000 deaths per year, mostly of young children or pregnant women. Populations prone to VA deficiency obtain about 82% of their VA from plant sources that are rich in pro-VA carotenoids such as beta-carotene. Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) are an especially good source. We evaluated OFSP carotenoid concentrations, bioaccessibility, and cooking and storage, then used this to estimate the amount of OFSP needed to supply 100% of VA for people at risk for deficiency. The grams/day of OFSP needed to meet VA requirements varies with age and sex, and with the amount of beta-carotene in the OFSP. Amounts ranged from 6 to 33 g/d (0.02 to 0.13 cups/d) for a 3-y-old child with marginal VA status; to 68 to 381 g/d, (0.27 to 1.49 cups/d) for a lactating woman with good status. These are amounts that can be eaten on a daily basis. The amount of OFSP needed to supply the VA requirement to all of the 208

Physiological, Morphological Changes and Storage Root Yield of Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.] under PEG-Induced Water Stress

“…The green leaves are rich in anthocyanins, polyphenolic acid and essential oils (Islam et al, 2002;Islam, 2006;Wang et al, 2010). Orange-flashed sweetpotato, when consumed daily, can prevent vitamin A deficiency (Burri, 2011;Fitzpatrick et al, 2012). Storage roots of sweetpotato are rich in starch, vitamins and minerals.…”

Efficiency of Sweet Potato Farmers in Nigeria: Potentials for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation

“…(Anyaegbunam, et al, 2011) In Nigeria, estimates suggest 29.5% of all children under the age of five are vitamin-A deficient. (Burri, 2011) A comparison of sweet potatoes to maize, potatoes and cassava shows that sweet potatoes yield more calories per hectare than maize or potatoes and nearly as much as cassava. Sweet potatoes also yield larger amounts of protein in kilograms per hectare than cassava.…”

The Effect of In-Field Rain Water Harvesting on Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato Biomass and Yield

“…When addressing issues of human nutritional insecurity, it is important to encourage the cultivation of sweet potato by small-holder farmers and subsistence farmers or home gardeners (Low, 2011). Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) is rich in β-carotene, a major precursor of vitamin A thus considered as an affordable remedy for vitamin A deficiency (Burri, 2011). Sweet potato is an excellent source of calories, and further contains dietary fibre, vitamin C, vitamin B6 and minerals (Burri, 2011;Laurie, Van Jaarsveld, Faber, Philpott, & Labuschagne, 2012).…”

“…Orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) is rich in β-carotene, a major precursor of vitamin A thus considered as an affordable remedy for vitamin A deficiency (Burri, 2011). Sweet potato is an excellent source of calories, and further contains dietary fibre, vitamin C, vitamin B6 and minerals (Burri, 2011;Laurie, Van Jaarsveld, Faber, Philpott, & Labuschagne, 2012). There is an estimated two billion people, mostly found in the rural parts of developing countries, who suffer from one or more micronutrient deficiencies (FAO/IFAD/WFP, 2012).…”