BACKGROUND Golden Rice (GR) has been genetically engineered to be rich in β-carotene for use as a source of vitamin A. OBJECTIVE The objective was to compare the vitamin A value of β-carotene in GR and in spinach with that of pure β-carotene in oil when consumed by children. DESIGN Children (n = 68; age 6-8 y) were randomly assigned to consume GR or spinach (both grown in a nutrient solutio...

Beta-carotene is a terpenoid pigment that is highly valuable due to its nutritional benefit as a precursor of vitamin A and its antioxidant properties. A marine green alga Dunaliella salina is well known for high carotene, with above 95% β-carotene, under growth-limiting conditions. Carotene contents are different among D. salina strains and under different culture conditions. Selecting a Dunal...

BACKGROUND Over the last decade, considerable efforts have been made to identify cassava cultivars to improve the vitamin A nutritional status of undernourished populations, especially in northeast Brazil, where cassava is one of the principal and essentially only nutritional source. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the total carotenoid, β-carotene, and its all-E-, 9-, and 13-...

Vitamin A regulates many essential mammalian biological processes, including embryonic development. β-carotene is the main source of vitamin A in the human diet. Once ingested, it is packaged into lipoproteins, predominantly low-density lipoproteins (LDL), and transported to different sites within the body, including the liver and developing tissues, where it can either be stored or metabolized...

Vitamin A is essential for life in all vertebrate animals. Vitamin A requirement can be met from dietary preformed vitamin A or provitamin A carotenoids, the most important of which is β-carotene. The metabolism of β-carotene, including its intestinal absorption, accumulation in tissues, and conversion to vitamin A, varies widely across animal species and determines the role that β-carotene pla...

The stress-related responses of Mucor circinelloides transformants altered in carotenoid production have been investigated. In zygomycetous fungi β-carotene is the predominant carotenoid, however, in transformants containing the crtW and crtZ astaxanthin biosynthesis genes from Agrobacterium aurantiacum new carotenoid compounds are present. Mucor strains with altered carotenoid content were tre...

African leafy vegetables (ALVs) are known to be high in β-carotene content and are preferred over kales due to this nutritional superiority. Ten different vegetables were collected from farm and market locations and analyzed for β-carotene content. Cooked vegetables (in single or in combination) as well as solar dried samples were prepared by the community members in the study area in the usual...

A new HPLC/DAD (Diode Array Detector) method is proposed for the identification of some carotene isomers. The operating conditions adopted permit the resolution of α-carotene, all-trans-β-carotene, 9-cis-β-carotene, 13-cis-β-carotene and 15-cis-β-carotene. Moreover, the chromatographic conditions reported are simplified in respect of those reported up to now. The method is applied to the determ...

β-Carotene is an important dietary source of vitamin A for humans. However, the bioavailability and vitamin A equivalency of β-carotene are highly variable and can be affected by food- and diet-related factors, including the food matrix, food-processing techniques, size of the dose of β-carotene, and the amounts of dietary fat, fiber, vitamin A, and other carotenoids in the diet as well as by c...

DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this work to my lovely and supportive parents. I am very appreciative of their love and support. Without their guidance, I would not be able to achieve this. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge all of those associated with the Food Science Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I would like to give my special thanks to Dr. Xiao and ...