FIGURE 3.

Final liver lycopene (A), liver retinol concentrations per gram of the tissue (B), and total liver retinol content (C) for the anthocyanin study in male Mongolian gerbils that consumed treatment feeds consisting of HA, MHA, MLA, and LA concentrations of anthocyanins. Feeds were equalized in PACs and lycopene, all sourced from purple-red carrots. The positive control was dosed with preformed vitamin A in soybean oil. The ∗ denotes P = 0.057 and 0.053 for liver retinol concentration and total retinol being higher than the negative control group. All values are group means ± SD and groups labeled with different letters were significantly different (P < 0.05). ANC, anthocyanin; HA, high anthocyanin; LA, low anthocyanin; Lyc, lycopene; MHA, medium-high anthocyanin; MLA, medium-low anthocyanin; PAC, provitamin A carotenoids; VA, vitamin A.