Relative bioavailability of iron in Bangledeshi traditional meals prepared with iron-fortified lentil dal

Authors: PODDER, RAJIB - University Of Saskatchewan; DELLAVALLE, DIANE - Marywood University; TYLER, ROBERT - University Of Saskatchewan; Glahn, Raymond; Tako, Elad; VANDENBERG, ALBERT - University Of Saskatchewan

Submitted to: Nutrients
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/13/2018
Publication Date: 3/15/2018
Citation: Podder, R., Dellavalle, D., Tyler, R., Glahn, R.P., Tako, E.N., Vandenberg, A. 2018. Relative bioavailability of iron in Bangledeshi traditional meals prepared with iron-fortified lentil dal. Nutrients. 10(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10030354.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10030354

Interpretive Summary: In Bangladesh, iron deficiency anemia is one of the leading nutritional deficiencies. Most Bangladeshi people do not consume sufficient amounts of bioavailable Fe in their diet; however, almost all Bangladeshi consume a small portion of lentil, known as “dal”, on a daily basis. The dal is therefore an excellent food to fortify with Fe and thus contribute significant bioavailable Fe to the Bangladeshi diet. Moreover, the dal is often a dehulled red lentil which is known to be easily fortified with Fe. In the present study, Fe-fortified (2800 ug g-1 Fe) lentil was used in thirty traditional Bangladeshi meals. An established cell culture bioassay was used to measure the bioavailable Fe present in the meals and determine if the fortified dal was likely to add significant bioavailable Fe to the diet. The fortified lentils increased iron concentration from 60 to 439 ug g-1 and resulted in a 79% increase in the amount of bioavailable Fe. The authors conclude that fortified lentil can contribute significant bioavailable Fe to Bangladeshi populations at risk of Fe deficiency. Moreover, this same approach could be used for other food products in regions with high risk of Fe deficiency.

Technical Abstract: Due to low Fe bioavailability and low consumption per meal, lentil must be fortified to contribute significant bioavailable Fe in the Bangladeshi diet. Moreover, since red lentil is dehulled prior to consumption, opportunity exists at this point to fortify lentil with Fe. Thus, in the present study, Fe-fortified (2800 ug g-1 Fe) lentil was used in thirty traditional Bangladeshi meals with broad differences in concentrations of iron, phytic acid (PA), and relative Fe bioavailability (RFeB). The NaFeEDTA fortified lentils increased iron concentration from 60 to 439 ug g-1 and resulted in a 79% increase in the amount of deliverable Fe as estimated by Caco-2 cell ferritin formation. Phytic acid levels were reduced from 6.2 to 4.6 mg g-1 when fortified lentils were added, thereby reducing the PA:Fe molar ratio from 57.9 to 5.9. This effect is presumably due to dephytinization of fortified lentil during the fortification process. A significant (