Abstract:
An emerging tool in the fight against the high prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies
in sub-Saharan Africa is the production of nutritionally enhanced staple food
products, through food-to-food fortification with micronutrient-dense fruits and
vegetables. This study investigated food-to-food fortification with cowpea leaves
(CL) and orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) in combination with conventional micronutrient
fortification and fermentation on the mineral and antinutrient contents
and Caco-2 cellular uptake of iron and zinc from ready-to-eat maize porridges. The
amount of iron and zinc taken up from maize porridges (0.05 and 0.06 mg/100 g, db,
respectively) was increased more after fortification with CL, compared to OFSP (0.32
and 0.23 mg/100 g, db versus. 0.11 and 0.04 mg/100 g, db, respectively). Despite the
moderate cellular uptakes of iron and zinc from the CL fortified porridges (2.71% and
3.10%, respectively) compared to the OFSP fortified porridges (6.51% and 5.22%,
respectively), the CL fortified porridges had much higher high iron and zinc contents
(12.2–14.1 and 7.6–8.9 mg/100 g, db versus. 2.1–3.7 and 1.5–2.7 mg/100 g, db, respectively).
This highlights the importance of increasing both the mineral content
and bioavailability when fortifying a product. Even when a food product contains
substantial antinutrients such as CL, if the mineral content and contents of bioavailability
enhancers are high enough, the amounts of bioavailable iron and zinc can still
be improved.
