Indian Journal of Ecology

Adolescence is a vulnerable period in human life cycle when nutritional requirements increases due to rapid growth spurt. More than 60 per cent of adolescent girls have been reported to be affected by iron deficiency anemia. Garden cress seeds (Lepidium sativum) are locally available inexpensive seeds which are excellent sources of iron, protein and β–carotene. The present study was planned to develop iron enriched four recipes viz. ladoo, mathri,s hakkarpare and biscuits for adolescent girls using garden cress seeds as the main ingredient. Three formulations of each recipe, i.e., control (no garden cress flour), variant-1 (unprocessed garden cress flour) and variant-2 (processed garden cress flour) were developed. The developed recipes were analysed for proximate composition, selected mineral content and in-vitro iron bioavailability. The variant-2 of ladoo and mathri, was higher in ash (2.10 and 2.27%), crude fat (23.97 and 36.24%), crude fibre (1.43 and 6.95%) and crude protein (9.55 and 10.44%). The selected mineral content was also higher in variant-2 of ladoo and mathri. Processing of seeds had significant effect on total iron, ionisable and soluble iron as well as per cent bioavailability of iron that enhanced after the treatment. Thus, among various developed recipes, variant-2 of, ladoo and mathri were highly nutritive.