Vitamin A is needed by the retina of the eye in the form of retinal, which combines with protein opsin to form rhodopsin, the light-absorbing molecule necessary for both low-light (scotopic vision) and color vision. Retinol, the form of vitamin A absorbed when eating animal food sources, is a yellow, fat-soluble substance. 2  Since the pure alcohol form is unstable, the vitamin is found in tissues in a form of retinyl ester. 3  It is also commercially produced and administered as esters such as retinyl acetate or palmitate.