Three procedures for the extraction of vitamin A from liver tissue were compared to determine the most accurate method of estimation of the vitamin A in liver. Results indicate that prolonged heating used in many saponification procedures yields lower and more variable vitamin A values than procedures requiring short heat treatment or no heat. The technician time required per sample using the direct extraction procedure without heat is substantially less than that required by the saponification procedures. The results of the work reported strongly support the recommendation of the direct extraction procedure for vitamin A analysis of liver samples.