Fávaro R M, de Oliveira J E
Instituto Adolfo Lutz, UNAERP, Faculdade de Medicina, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brasil.
Arch Latinoam Nutr. 1999 Sep;49(3 Suppl 1):34S-37S.
The use of available food rich in provitamin A and retinol as well as fortification of local food are known to result in adequate vitamin A status. In Brazil, several regional foods are known to be good sources of provitamin A such as buriti, several palm oils, mango and others. Improving the consumption of these locally available natural sources of provitamin and vitamin A would cover the needs of the vulnerable population. At the same time fortification of industrialized foods with natural and/or synthetic forms of provitamin A could speed up and fill the gap between requirement and low intake of this vitamin in many parts of the country. This approach has been considered by many as the most effective intervention program to prevent micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries. Our previous studies on the subject have shown that cooking vegetable oil, mainly soybean oil, is a very good alternative vehicle to be fortified and supply vitamin A to the population. Lately we have also enriched the same soybean oil with beta-carotene. Addition of this provitamin A to the oil showed it to be stable when heated at cooking and frying temperatures (retention of 92.4 +/- 6.7% and 65.4 +/- 8.6%, respectively). When rat or human food was prepared with carotene-enriched cooking oil, its bioavailability in experimental animals and absorption in humans were shown to be adequate. An alternative for Brazil, besides adding chemical forms of the vitamin to the cooking oil, would be to mix available carotene-rich palm oil to the soybean oil. There are already regional uses of carotenoid-rich palm oils in the preparation of local dishes in some parts of Brazil and this would facilitate its acceptance by the population. Enrichment of common foods in Brazil, such as soybean oil, with chemical forms of beta-carotene or mixing rich sources of provitamin A can be a good alternative to improve the intake of vitamin A by the Brazilian population.
食用富含维生素A原和视黄醇的现有食物以及强化当地食物，已知可使维生素A状况充足。在巴西，已知几种区域食物是维生素A原的良好来源，如布里提棕榈果、几种棕榈油、芒果等。增加这些当地可得的维生素A原天然来源的消费量，将满足弱势群体的需求。同时，用天然和/或合成形式的维生素A原强化工业化食品，可以加快并填补该国许多地区该维生素需求与低摄入量之间的差距。许多人认为这种方法是发展中国家预防微量营养素缺乏最有效的干预方案。我们之前关于该主题的研究表明，烹饪植物油，主要是大豆油，是一种非常好的强化载体，可为民众提供维生素A。最近我们还用β-胡萝卜素强化了同一种大豆油。在烹饪和油炸温度下加热时，向油中添加这种维生素A原显示其具有稳定性（保留率分别为92.4±6.7%和65.4±8.6%）。当用富含胡萝卜素的烹饪油制备大鼠或人类食物时，其在实验动物中的生物利用度和在人体中的吸收率显示是充足的。除了向烹饪油中添加维生素的化学形式外，巴西的另一种选择是将现有的富含胡萝卜素的棕榈油与大豆油混合。在巴西一些地区，富含类胡萝卜素的棕榈油已用于当地菜肴的制备，这将便于民众接受。用β-胡萝卜素的化学形式强化巴西的常见食物，如大豆油，或混合富含维生素A原的来源，可能是提高巴西民众维生素A摄入量的一个好选择。
