Iron Bioavailability in White, Brown and Bran Bread on Mice

Abstract

Evaluation of bioavailability of iron as ferrous sulfate (FeSO₄) 100 mg.kg⁻¹ from three fortified bread types of 80% extraction wheat flour was assessed on27Balb-cmice. depletion-repletion method was applied, during the depletion period mice were made anemic using low iron diet for 14-days then they were divided into seven groups receiving different diets as follow: (A1: white non-fortified bread, A2: white fortified bread, B1: brown non-fortified bread, B2: brown fortified bread, C1: bran non-fortified bread, C2: bran fortified bread, D: fodder)for 21-days.Wheat flour nutritional profile values were: moisture 12.6%, ash0.58%, protein11.2 mg/100g, fat1.2 mg/100g, and iron 3.4 mg/100g. The study of the hematological and biochemical indices (Red blood cells, Hemoglobin, Hematocrit, Serum iron, total iron binding capacity, Transferrin and Ferritin) of the blood collected at days (1-15-36) of the experimental periods, showed that the live body weight of the experimental animals generally increased with the time period for all mice, except for the non-fortified bran diet. Hematological and biochemical tests decreased at the end of depletion period. The highest values for hematological and biochemical tests at the end of diets were HG: (13.1 g/dl), Serum iron: (52μmol.L-1) and Ferritin: (2.7 ng/m) for the mice fed with bran fortified bread diet, were HCT: (31.2%), TIBC: (361Ug/dl) for the mice fed with brown fortified bread diet, were TRF: (8,6%) for the mice fed with white fortified bread diet, and RBC: 3.4 for the mice fed with brown and bran fortified bread diet. The highest increase among all tests was in hemoglobin and serum iron level for the (white, brown and bran) bread respectively, especially for the fortified ones.