In-vitro bio-availability of iron from fortified fruit beverages

A study was designed to study the in-vitro bioavailability of various forms of iron compounds and to analyse the iron dialysability from the juices developed using the highly bioavailable form of iron. The in-vitro method involving gastro intestinal digestion and diffusion of iron through a semi-permeable membrane was used in the study. The dialyzed iron was estimated using a u-v spectrophotometer. The iron bioavailabilty of various forms of iron such as anhydrous ferrous sulphate, ferrous sulphate hydrate, ferrous fumarate, ferrous ammonium sulphate, ferric fumarate, ferric pyrophosphate, ferric chloride, sodium ferrous EDTA and elemental iron ranged from 0.2 to 4.1 per cent. Iron bioavailability in fortified juices was 9.3 and 4.0 percent for limejuice and grape juice respectively. The iron dialyzability was doubled in fortified limejuice, which could be due to the ascorbic acid content which is an enhancer of iron absorption. The lime juice contained 6.3 mg% of ascorbic acid. Thus fruit beverages with ferrous sulphate as a fortificant can be recommended for the anaemic youth to improve their iron status.