provitamin A
- noun
- /ˌproʊˈvaɪtəmɪn ˈeɪ/
- Specialized
:
provitamina A
- The body can convert provitamin A from plant sources into vitamin A, essential for maintaining healthy vision.
Examples
-
Eating foods high in provitamin A, like sweet potatoes and spinach, can improve your overall nutrition.
-
For example, the engineering of provitamin A into rice endosperm, also known as "golden" rice, provides a means of supplementing vitamin A intake in diets otherwise deficient (Ye et al., 2000).
Academic text (2005) -
Carrots are rich in provitamin A, which helps support eye health.
Synonyms
9
6.5
A yellow or orange substance in plants, especially carrots, that the body uses to make vitamin A
2
4.4
A natural color in orange and dark green vegetables that the body turns into vitamin A
An orange substance in plants that the body changes into vitamin A
Surface Forms
Morphology
provitamin + A
The term is transparently compositional: 'provitamin' denotes a precursor compound that can be converted into a vitamin, and 'A' specifies which vitamin (vitamin A). A learner who knows those constituents can directly infer that 'provitamin A' is a substance convertible into vitamin A, so the meaning is predictable from its parts.
Etymology
The noun provitamin A comes from the idea of 'before' a vitamin: pro- means 'before' and vitamin A is the vitamin it will become. So plant pigments like beta-carotene are like a raw ingredient the body turns into the vitamin, which is why provitamin A means 'a substance the body turns into vitamin A'.