The vitamin A equivalence of β‐carotene in β‐carotene‐biofortified cassava ingested by women

β‐Carotene‐biofortified cassava is being developed through plant breeding as a sustainable agronomic approach to alleviate vitamin A deficiency. Our objective was to quantify the vitamin A equivalence of the β‐carotene in biofortified cassava based on ingestion of a single realistic serving of cassava porridge. Women ( n = 8) each consumed in random order 3 cassava porridges (220 g each) containing 40 g cassava flour: 1) biofortified cassava porridge (1097.5 μg β‐carotene); 2) white cassava porridge with β‐carotene reference dose (537.6 μg added β‐carotene); 3) white cassava porridge with vitamin A reference dose (285.6 μg added retinol). Blood samples were collected over 9 h. Retinyl palmitate was analyzed in triacylglycerol‐rich lipoprotein fractions by HPLC with electrochemical detection. Areas under the curve (AUC) for retinyl palmitate (nmol·h) were 213.0 ± 59.7, 141.5 ± 46.3, and 159.0 ± 81. 6 after ingestion of biofortified cassava porridge, white cassava porridge with β‐carotene reference dose, and white cassava porridge with vitamin A reference dose, respectively. The vitamin A equivalence of the β‐carotene in β‐carotene‐biofortified cassava was 2.80 ± 1.77 to 1 (by wt); the vitamin A equivalence of the β‐carotene reference dose (2.11 ± 0.81 to 1) approximated that established by the U.S. Institute of Medicine. Biofortified cassava is a highly bioavailable source of vitamin A. Supported by HarvestPlus. Grant Funding Source : HarvestPlus