Pros and Cons of Dietary Vitamin A and Its Precursors in Poultry Health and Production: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that cannot be synthesized in the body and must be obtained through diet. Despite being one of the earliest vitamins identified, a complete range of biological actions is still unknown. Carotenoids are a category of roughly 600 chemicals that are structurally related to vitamin A. Vitamin A can be present in the body in the form of retinol, retinal, and retinoic acid. Vitamins are required in minute amounts, yet they are critical for health, maintenance, and performing key biological functions in the body, such as growth, embryo development, epithelial cell differentiation, and immune function. Vitamin A deficiency induces a variety of problems, including lack of appetite, decreased development and immunity, and susceptibility to many diseases. Dietary preformed vitamin A, provitamin A, and several classes of carotenoids can be used to meet vitamin A requirements. The aim of this review is to compile the available scientific literature regarding the sources and important functions, such as growth, immunity, antioxidant, and other biological activities of vitamin A in poultry.