The Effect of Phosphatides on Utilization of Vitamin A and Carotene

Abstract

Summary

Vitamin A-depleted rats fed a vitamin-free diet, supplemented with synthetic B vitamins and 2 U.S.P. units of vitamin A in the form of carotene, failed to gain weight in spite of the presence of 4% cottonseed oil in the diet. Satisfactory growth was obtained when soybean phosphatides (1%) were added to the diet. An amount of soybean oil (0.3 %) equivalent to that contained in the soybean phosphatides used also promoted growth but to a lesser degree. Rats fed the vitamin A-deficient diet supplemented with soybean oil and 2 units of vitamin A appeared in poor condition and began to lose weight after the third week.

Substitution of cod liver oil in place of carotene as the source of vitamin A in the diet, with addition of soybean oil or soybean phosphatides resulted in a growth response similar to that obtained with carotene. However, cod liver oil alone also caused some gain in weight.

In the presence of soybean phosphatides, carotene was as well utilized as vitamin A under the conditions of our experiment.