Food fortification is an effective strategy to address vitamin A deficiency , the leading cause of blindness, with one-third of preschoolers suffering from it globally. However, vitamin A food fortification remains challenging due to significant degradation during storage and cooking. A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute has demonstrated that encapsulating vitamin A in a protective polymer avoids its degradation and can be easily incorporated into food items like flour or bouillon cubes.
The enhanced stability of vitamin A, by this technology, can provide recommended daily uptake of vitamin A even after long-term storage in hot and humid environments irrespective of the cooking processes like boiling or baking. The researchers observed that when vitamin A encapsulated in polymer particles was fed to rats, 30% of vitamin A was observed, the same as free uncooked…
