Blending of Crude Palm Oil with Other Cooking Oils as a Source of β-Carotene for Combating Vitamin A Deficiency

Vitamin A deficiency is one of the major public health problems in developing countries. According to National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau upto three per cent of preschool children show bitot's spots and night blindness and about 30 to 40 thousand children become blind every year in India. Dietary improvement of locally available carotene rich foods has been found to be effective as compared to synthetic vitamin A in combating vitamin A deficiency. Food sources of carotenoids like green leafy vegetables and other yellow fruits and vegetables are abundantly found in most developing countries but availability of β-carotene is very poor from these sources.