VITAMIN A 269 



a similar concentration, this cannot be asserted with confidence. Yellow 

 turnip on the other hand, showed less than one unit per gram. White 

 sweet potatoes, turnip and yautia contain markedly less vitamin A than 

 do the yellow varieties. Other vegetables which have shown a value 

 of less than one unit per gram are canned baked beans, soy beans, white 

 beans, beets, lentils, onions, parsnips, and baked or dried Irish potatoes. 

 None or only traces of the vitamin have been reported in dried lima 

 beans, dasheens, mangels, mushrooms, radishes and rutabaga; but these 

 foods were tested early and might show different results upon reinvesti- 

 gation with the quantitative refinements now available. In any case in 

 which a vegetable is prominent in the diet of any considerable com- 

 munity it will be of significance to know its vitamin A value as 

 accurately as may be. 



Some fruits compare quite favorably with many of the common 

 fresh vegetables which range from 1 to 10 units per gram. Fruits fall- 

 ing in this class are the avocado (alligator pear), banana, cantaloupe, 

 chayote, date, plantain (Porto Rican "cooking banana"), dried prune, 

 sapodilla, and raw and canned tomatoes. Those which have shown less 

 than 1 unit per gram but distinctly measurable quantities are fresh 

 apples, cooking figs, fresh grapes, orange juice, papaya (a tropical 

 fruit), and pineapple. Grapefruit, lemon and peaches are reported to 

 contain small amounts. As yet no one has detected a measurable quan- 

 tity in raisins. The presence of the vitamin has been detected in the 

 peel and peel oil of the citrous fruits with the indication that the orange 

 oil furnishes greater concentrations than either that from lemon or 

 grapefruit peel. One sample contained as much as 50 units per gram. 

 Watermelon has recently (Munsell, 1930) been found a good source 

 of vitamin A. 



Cereals are conspicuously poor sources of vitamin A. Yellow 

 corn has been reported to contain about 3 to 4 units of vitamin A 

 per gram, and yellow corn oil as much as 10. Detectable quantities 

 but apparently less than one unit per gram have been found in 

 samples of barley, bran, commercial bread, cottonseed, and cotton- 

 seed oil. Traces have been indicated in millet and unpolished rice, 

 and some flours. As yet vitamin A has not been demonstrated in 

 white corn, oats, polished rice, cornstarch and purified samples of patent 

 flour. 



Concerning nuts, few experiments of a quantitative nature have 

 been reported but the indication is that less than one unit per gram is 

 found in almonds, barcelona, Brazil, butternuts, walnuts, and peanuts. 

 One reference to pecans indicated a vitamin content of around 3 units 



