Biofortified sweet potatoes

Vitamin A deficiency affects over 140 million children under the age of five. In the absence of adequate amounts of vitamin A immune systems suffer irreversible damage and blindness occurs. A recent study found that boiled orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) contained over 1,000 Retinol Activity Equiv...

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Autor principal: International Food Policy Research Institute
Formato: Brochure
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2006
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/160492
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author International Food Policy Research Institute
author_browse International Food Policy Research Institute
author_facet International Food Policy Research Institute
author_sort International Food Policy Research Institute
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Vitamin A deficiency affects over 140 million children under the age of five. In the absence of adequate amounts of vitamin A immune systems suffer irreversible damage and blindness occurs. A recent study found that boiled orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) contained over 1,000 Retinol Activity Equivalents (RAE) per 125 grams, which, when fed to school aged children in South Africa, provided 250 percent of their recommended daily allowance.. At present, Africa’s predominant sweetpotato cultivars are white- or yellow-fleshed varieties that contain small amounts of beta-carotene. By contrast, the [much less common] orange-fleshed varieties are rich sources of beta-carotene. In addition, orange-fleshed varieties are inexpensive and can be grown year-round, making them an ideal source of vitamin A for the poor. If sweetpotato could be bred for local growing conditions, and if sufficient demand was created, farmers and consumers could switch from non-orange to orange-fleshed varieties, thereby making significant progress toward improving vitamin A.
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spelling CGSpace1604922025-11-06T06:15:28Z Biofortified sweet potatoes International Food Policy Research Institute biofortification vitamin a sweet potatoes plant breeding retinol nutrition Vitamin A deficiency affects over 140 million children under the age of five. In the absence of adequate amounts of vitamin A immune systems suffer irreversible damage and blindness occurs. A recent study found that boiled orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) contained over 1,000 Retinol Activity Equivalents (RAE) per 125 grams, which, when fed to school aged children in South Africa, provided 250 percent of their recommended daily allowance.. At present, Africa’s predominant sweetpotato cultivars are white- or yellow-fleshed varieties that contain small amounts of beta-carotene. By contrast, the [much less common] orange-fleshed varieties are rich sources of beta-carotene. In addition, orange-fleshed varieties are inexpensive and can be grown year-round, making them an ideal source of vitamin A for the poor. If sweetpotato could be bred for local growing conditions, and if sufficient demand was created, farmers and consumers could switch from non-orange to orange-fleshed varieties, thereby making significant progress toward improving vitamin A. 2006 2024-11-21T09:50:55Z 2024-11-21T09:50:55Z Brochure https://hdl.handle.net/10568/160492 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Biofortified sweet potatoes. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/160492
spellingShingle biofortification
vitamin a
sweet potatoes
plant breeding
retinol
nutrition
International Food Policy Research Institute
Biofortified sweet potatoes
title Biofortified sweet potatoes
title_full Biofortified sweet potatoes
title_fullStr Biofortified sweet potatoes
title_full_unstemmed Biofortified sweet potatoes
title_short Biofortified sweet potatoes
title_sort biofortified sweet potatoes
topic biofortification
vitamin a
sweet potatoes
plant breeding
retinol
nutrition
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/160492
work_keys_str_mv AT internationalfoodpolicyresearchinstitute biofortifiedsweetpotatoes