The Augmentation of the Provitamin a Potency of Carotene when Fed in Margarine

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Abstract
Preformed vitamin A, derived from an oil solution of distilled vitamin A esters or from a blend of food fish liver oils of high potency, promotes a growth response of the same order of magnitude when fed in either cottonseed oil or in margarine to vitamin A-depleted rats. On the other hand, carotene when administered in margarine is responsible for a greater-than-theoretical response. In the margarine vehicle the physiological availability of vitamin A from carotene is about 130%, i.e., 30% greater than when fed in limpid cottonseed oil, despite supplementation of the latter with tocopherols. In vitro tests have demonstrated that both preformed vitamin A and carotene are more stable in the hydrogenated and anti-oxidant-supplemented blend of vegetable oils constituting margarine oil, and that the presence of the added emulsifying agents, lecithin and mono- and diglycerides, increases the dispersibility at body temperature of margarine oil in water. The observation that only carotene responds to the factors in margarine which promote greater physiological availability is attributed to carotene's being more sensitive than preformed vitamin A to the effect of environmental factors capable of augmenting the vitamin A response. Both vitamin A and carotene are relatively stable in margarine, even when held at room temperature over a prolonged period.