The relatively constant carotenoid composition of leaves in higher plants suggests Arabidopsis leaves could model interactions of β-carotene and lutein ingested in vegetable leaves. We compared liver vitamin A stores in gerbils fed β-carotene in lutein-free (lut2) mutant or wild-type (WT) Arabidopsis leaves. Gerbils were fed a vitamin A-free diet for 4 weeks. They were then fed one of 4 diets for 6 weeks: 1) vitamin A-free diet (n=8); 2) vitamin A-free diet supplemented with purified β-carotene (22.0 nmol β-carotene/g diet; n=8); 3) vitamin A-free diet supplemented with lut2 leaves (61.3 nmol β-carotene/g diet; n=3); or 4) vitamin A-free diet supplemented with WT leaves (69.1 nmol β-carotene/g diet; n=3). There were no group differences in body or liver weights. Liver vitamin A stores were 48% higher in gerbils fed lut2 leaves (2.94±0.14 [mu]mol) than in those fed WT leaves (1.99±0.10 [mu]mol; P=0.005). Liver vitamin A stores were higher in gerbils fed purified β-carotene (3.80±0.27 [mu]mol) than in those fed WT leaves (P=0.003) or vitamin A-free diet (0.45±0.08 [mu]mol; P<0.001). The difference in liver vitamin A stores in gerbils fed purified β-carotene or lut2 leaves was not statistically significant. Although our finding may not extrapolate to humans, for the first time, we have shown carotenoid-carotenoid interactions when ingested within a plant matrix.