VITAMIN A
Vitamin A (retinol) is an important nutritional requirement for vision. A deficiency in the diet of vitamin A can result in night blindness. It is believed that b-carotene which is used to synthesize Vitamin A is especially abundant in carrots.
Vitamin A is an isoprenoid alcohol and can either be consumed in the diet or biosynthesized from b-carotene as shown below:
Vitamin A plays an important role in vision, in particular the visual process in the rod cells of the retina. The rod cells are responsible mainly for low light intensity vision hence the rumor that eating carrots help you see in the dark. Isomerization of a protein bound form of vitamin A in the retina is the mechanism by which light energy is received by the eye.
