Animal foods, preformed vitamin

Vitamin A deficiency affects more than 100 million children around the world (Miller and others 2002) and thus remains an important public health problem in many countries. Vitamin A is essential for vision, reproduction, growth, immune function, and general health of humans (van Lieshout and others 2001). The major sources of vitamin A in the human diet are retinyl esters (preformed vitamin A) found in foods of animal origin and provitamin A carotenoids from fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, foods containing preformed vitamin A (meat, milk, eggs, etc.) are frequently too expensive for some economically deprived developing countries, and therefore dietary carotenoids are the main source of vitamin A in these countries. 

Vitamin A (retinol, 6.1) is the parent of a range of compounds known as retinoids, which possess the biological activity of vitamin A. In general, animal foods provide preformed vitamin A as retinyl esters (e.g. 6.5, which are easily hydrolysed in the gastrointestinal tract) while plant foods provide precursors of vitamin A, i.e. carotenoids. Only carotenoids with a /3-ionone ring (e.g. /1-carotene) can serve as vitamin A precursors. /3-Carotene (6.6)... 

Vitamin B12 is synthesized only by microorganisms it is not present in plants. Animals obtain the vitamin preformed from their natural bacterial flora or by eating foods derived from other animals. Cobalamin is present in appreciable amounts in liver, whole milk, eggs, oysters, fresh shrimp, pork, and chicken. 

In food, vitamin A exits in two forms preformed vitamin A (retinol and retinyl esters) in animal products and pro-vitamin A carotenoids... 

The major dietary sources for preformed vitamin A are vertebrate animal products that are rich in vitamin A esters (liver, kidney, oil, dairy products, and eggs). Liver and oil, particularly from fish, are the major dietary sources of preformed vitamin A. Levels in milk and eggs depend on dietary retinoid and carotenoid intake. Freshwater fish are a source of vitamin A2 (3,4-dehydroretinol), which shows reduced vitamin A activity. Levels of retinal in food are very low, whereas retinoic acid has not been found. 

Vitamin A is available either from (i) preformed retinol (present in animal foods as retinyl esters), or (ii) metabolised from provitamin A precursors. The recommended dietary allowance for preformed vitamin A is 0.9 mg/day for men and 0.7 mg/day for women. Provitamin A somces are graded according to their retinol activity equivalence (RAE), e.g. since 12mg of 3-carotene in food 5delds Img retinol, its RAE is 12. 

Niacin is categorized as a vitamin because its precursor, tryptophan, is an essential amino acid, so the human synthesis of niacin is dependent upon diets. Preformed niacin is widely distributed in plant and animal foods. The typical preformed niacin sources in diets are meat and meat products, cereals, dairy products, beverages, and eggs. However, cereals with esterified niacin in complexes have this vitamin imavail-able for absorption, but its bioavailability can be increased by treatment with alkali to hydrolyze the esters. Coffee can be a source of niacin, as nicotinic acid is liberated in coffee by roasting. 

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble micronutrient that is required by all vertebrates to maintain vision, epithelial tissues, immvme functions, reproduction, and for life itself. It was discovered in 1913 as a minor component in eggs, butter, whole milk, and fish liver oils. It soon became apparent that vitamin A exists in two chemically distinct yet structurally related forms. The first form to be characterized was retinol, a lipid alcohol that is present only in foods of animal origin. Retinol is also known as preformed vitamin A because it can be metabolized directly into compovmds that exert the biological effects of vitamin A. A second form of vitamin A, present in deep-yellow vegetables, was characterized as /3-carotene, which is synthesized only by plants but can be converted to retinol during absorption in the small intestines. These carotenoids are sometimes referred to as provitamin A. The nutritional requirement for vitamin A can be met by preformed retinol, provitamin A carotenoids, or a mixture, and therefore it is possible to obtain a sufficient intake of vitamin A from carnivorous, herbivorous, or omnivorous diets. 

Humans do not have the ability to synthesize retinol (vitamin A) and have thus evolved to derive this compound from the diet, either directly as preformed retinol from foods of animal origin or from the metabohsm of carotenoids primarily derived from plant tissues. Several hundred carotenoids have been isolated, named and their structures elucidated, but only a few have a known biochemical role in human metabolism or are present in the diet in sufficient quantities to be detected in plasma (Khachik et al. 1992). The chemical... 

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