Plant sources of vitamin A and human nutrition: renewed strategies.

The ability of a supplement of local, cooked green leaves to support vitamin A nutriture of anemic, lactating rural Indonesian women was tested using increments in carotenoid and retinol content in plasma and breast milk as indices of bioavailability and bioconversion, respectively. While beta-carotene provided in a simple matrix of a fortified cracker produced substantial improvements in both vitamin A and carotenoid status, an equivalent amount from stir-fried vegetables had a negligible effect.