
Iron bioavailability in 8–24‐month‐old T hai children from a micronutrient‐fortified quick‐cooking rice containing ferric ammonium citrate or a mixture of ferrous sulphate and ferric sodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
Author(s) -
Chavasit Visith,
Porasuphatana Suparat,
Suthutvoravut Umaporn,
Zeder Christroph,
Hurrell Richard
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
maternal and child nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1740-8709
pISSN - 1740-8695
DOI - 10.1111/mcn.12167
Subject(s) - bioavailability , micronutrient , ferrous , ferric , citric acid , food science , sodium citrate , chemistry , sodium , medicine , nuclear chemistry , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , pharmacology , pathology
A quick‐cooking rice, produced from broken rice, is a convenient ingredient for complementary foods in Thailand. The rice is fortified with micronutrients including iron during the processing procedure, which can cause unacceptable sensory changes. A quick‐cooking rice fortified with ferric ammonium citrate ( FAC ) or a mixture of ferrous sulphate ( FeSO 4 ) and ferric sodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid ( NaFeEDTA ), with a 2:1 molar ratio of iron from FeSO 4 : iron from NaFeEDTA ( FeSO 4 + NaFeEDTA ), gave a product that was organoleptically acceptable. The study compared iron absorption by infants and young children fed with micronutrient‐fortified quick‐cooking rice containing the test iron compounds or FeSO 4 . Micronutrient‐fortified quick‐cooking rice prepared as a traditional Thai dessert was fed to two groups of 15 8–24‐month healthy Thai children. The iron fortificants were isotopically labelled with 57 Fe for the reference FeSO 4 or 58 Fe for the tested fortificants, and iron absorption was quantified based on erythrocyte incorporation of the iron isotopes 14 days after feeding. The relative bioavailability of FAC and of the FeSO 4 + NaFeEDTA was obtained by comparing their iron absorption with that of FeSO 4 . Mean fractional iron absorption was 5.8% [±standard error ( SE ) 1.9] from FAC and 10.3% (± SE 1.9) from FeSO 4 + NaFeEDTA . The relative bioavailability of FAC was 83% ( P = 0.02). The relative bioavailability of FeSO 4 + NaFeEDTA was 145% ( P = 0.001). Iron absorption from the rice containing FAC or FeSO 4 + NaFeEDTA was sufficiently high to be used in its formulation, although iron absorption from FeSO 4 + NaFeEDTA was significantly higher ( P < 0.00001).