Nufarmer Africa
Orange Maize Improves
Vitamin A in Children
Vitamin A deficiency is widely prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa
J
ust ahead of World Food Day, a study published in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition has established that ‘orange’ vitamin A maize increases vitamin A storage in
the body. This maize has been conventionally
bred (non-GMO) to have higher levels of betacarotene, a naturally occurring plant pigment
that the body then converts into vitamin A.
Lack of sufficient vitamin A blinds up to
500,000 children annually and increases the
risk of death from disease (such as diarrhea
in children). Vitamin A deficiency is widely
prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa. Foods that
are good sources of vitamin A, such as orange
fruits, dark leafy vegetables, or meat, are not
always available, or may be too expensive in
some regions. In many African countries, people eat large amounts of staple foods like cas-
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sava or maize. For example, in Zambia, people
eat up to a pound of white maize daily. However, this white maize provides no beta-carotene. Switching to orange maize, which is rich
in beta-carotene, could potentially provide
maize-dependent populations with up to half
their daily vitamin A needs.
In this controlled efficacy study, children
from the Eastern Province of Zambia were randomly assigned to three feeding groups and
received either white maize, orange maize,
or a daily vitamin A supplement. After three
months, both groups that received either
the orange maize or vitamin A supplements
showed significant increases in their total
body stores of vitamin A, with no changes observed in the group that received white maize.
Lead scientist Sherry Tanumihardjo said
“we were surprised to find that most of the
children in this study already had substantial
stores of vitamin A. We attribute this to the
success of fortifying sugar with vitamin A, the
provision of vitamin A supplements to young
children, and perhaps better diets. Yet, despite having adequate vitamin A stores, we
still saw this store increase in children as a result of eating the orange maize. So, I’m confident that orange maize would be especially
effective in increasing body stores of vitamin
A in populations suffering from vitamin A deficiency.” Unlike the form of vitamin A found
in supplements and fortified foods, the body
regulates conversion of beta-carotene into vitamin A, and consuming high levels of betacarotene is not harmful to health.
Several orange maize varieties have been
Nufarmer Africa | September/October 2014