Not AvailableThe study was aimed to assess vitamin A bioavailability and allergenicity of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) based weaning food (PMWF) fortified with iron and retinyl acetate in male Wistar albino rats. Animals (n = 64) were divided into Normal (NG) and Anemic (AG)
groups; further sub-divided into 4 sub-groups having 8 animals each receiving synthetic diet, commercial diet, iron fortified PMWF diet and iron (150.00 ± 0.73 ppm) plus retinyl acetate (393.00 ± 3.07 μg/100 g) fortified PMWF diet (Final diet). Results revealed that anemic sub-groups showed apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) in the range of 69.5 ± 0.40–93.2 ± 0.79%, which was significantly (P 0.05) difference was observed between the groups and/or subgroups, suggesting no allergic response of final diet. Stimulation index triggered by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) ranged from 1.22 ± 0.06 to 1.45 ± 0.09 μg ml1 in normal sub-groups and 1.16 ± 0.02 to 1.33 ± 0.03 μg ml1 in anemic sub-groups with no significant (P > 0.05) difference among them. Overall, it can be concluded that retinyl acetate could be an effective fortificant to improve the status of vitamin A in anemic models.Not Availabl