Relative bioavailability in adults of iron from a soybean product intended for complementary feeding of infants

• Published in: International journal of food sciences and nutrition 1997, Vol.48 (6), p.359-364
• Main Authors: Lam, Nguyenm Thi, Gross, Rainer, Sastroamidjojo, Soemilah, Schultink, Werner
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Baby foods; Biological and medical sciences; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Food additives; Food science; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Iron; Nutrition; Soybeans; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems
• ISSN: 0963-7486; 1465-3478
• DOI: 10.3109/09637489709028583

The relative bioavailability of iron sulphate added to a soybean product intended for use as a fortified product for complementary feeding of infants was determined. Ten adults received 100mg elemental iron in an aqueous Fe(II)-sulphate solution and 1 week later 100 mg elemental iron mixed into 30 g soybean milk powder. Plasma iron concentrations were measured before, and 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 h after consumption. The area under the concentration/time curve (AUC+), the peak plasma level (tmax) and the relative bioavailability were determined. The peak of the plasma iron level after receiving 100 mg of iron solution was 176.71 ± 39.05 μg/dl at tmax = 2.8 ± 1.03h while it was 139.82 ± 34.47 μg/dl at tmax = 2.4 ± 1.3 h after consuming 30 g of soybean milk product mixed with 100mg iron solution. The relative bioavailability of iron in the soybean product was 45.8% compared to iron solution. Based on these results it is suggested that the soybean product should be fortified with 10 mg/100 g product of iron sulphate to provide 30% of the iron RDA for infants.