Supplementing lactating women with pureed papaya and grated carrots improved vitamin A status.

Title
Supplementing lactating women with pureed papaya and grated carrots improved vitamin A status in a placebo-controlled trial.

Source
Journal of Nutrition. 131, (5): 1497-1502, 2001.

As doubts have been raised about the effectiveness of carotene-containing foods at improving vitamin A status, effects of papaya and carrots on the vitamin A and Fe status of lactating women with 2- to 12-month-old infants in Zimbabwe were investigated. 202 women were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 supplementation groups and a placebo group, and received 6 mg of beta-carotene capsules, 650 g pureed papaya, 100 g grated carrots or a placebo, daily for 60 days. All groups were given a meal containing 10 g of vegetable oil daily. Serum retinol, relative dose response, serum ferritin, haemoglobin and C-reactive protein were measured before and after supplementation.

Mean serum retinol increased significantly after supplementation with beta-carotene, papaya and carrot, but not placebo. The relative dose response decreased significantly in beta-carotene and papaya groups, but not in carrot or placebo groups. There was an increase in mean serum ferritin in all groups but the increase did not differ among groups. Haemoglobin increases in beta-carotene and papaya groups were greater than that in the placebo group. It is concluded that pureed papaya and grated carrots can improve vitamin A and Fe nutriture of lactating women. These findings reinforce the importance of plant food-based approaches in the control of vitamin A deficiency in low income countries.

In conclusion, our study showed that ß-carotene supplementation with yellow-to-orange fruits and vegetables improves the vitamin A and iron status of lactating women. In each of the supplemented groups, those who were severely malnourished showed significant improvements in all indicators, i.e., serum retinol, relative dose response, hemoglobin and serum ferritin.