Contribution of plant-based sauces to the vitamin A intake of young children in Benin

A food consumption survey on 420 children was conducted in four areas in Benin to identify the local vitamin A (VA)-rich foods most frequently eaten and assess their contribution to the coverage of VA requirements of young children. Mangoes, eggs, red palm oil, various leafy vegetable (LV) sauces and palm nut juice sauce appeared to be the main VA-rich foods consumed. The recipes of the most promising sauces were characterised. Sauces with red palm oil/palm nut juice showed high carotenoid contents ranging from 0.9 ± 0.3 to 4.0 ± 0.8 mg Retinol Activity Equivalent/100 g dry matter (DM). Lipid contents were also high (from 39.6 to 66.8 g/100 g DM). When consumed, and taking into account the mean quantity eaten per meal, LV sauces containing red palm oil or palm nut juice contributed to the meeting of more than 70% of the recommended VA intake of young children.

► 34.2% of the young children surveyed consumed the available vitamin A rich foods. ► Plant-based sauces are among the VA-rich foods most frequently consumed in Benin. ► Studied sauces covered per meal, 59–129% of young children’s daily VA requirements. ► Carotenoid contents of the studied sauces ranged from 0.9 to 4.0 mg RAE/100 g DM.