Applied nutritional investigationIron absorption from meat pate fortified with ferric pyrophosphate in iron-deficient women
Introduction
Iron deficiency anemia is one of the most important nutritional deficiencies, and its prevention has been a main target for the World Health Organization since 1992 [1]. Iron deficiency anemia is considered “a public health condition of epidemic proportions,” with children and women being at-risk populations. In developing countries 52% of women are estimated to have iron deficiency and 22% in developed countries [2], [3]. Iron deficiency affects more people than any other condition in the world [2].
Because dietary recommended iron intake is difficult to achieve from food alone, strategies for preventing iron deficiency have focused on food fortification with iron salts, mainly cereal products such as rice, flours, and bread [4], [5], [6], [7], although an effective iron fortification of food remains a challenge. Ideal iron fortificants should permit supplementing high doses of iron in food without changing their physical, chemical, or sensory properties [8], allow appropriate food processing, and from a consumer's point of view be easily and effectively absorbed. Recently, the most studied iron fortificants have been ferrous bis-glycinate [5], [9], ferrous fumarate [4], elemental iron [10], [11], ferrous lactate [12], and ferric pyrophosphate [8], [13], [14], [15], [16]. Ferric pyrophosphate produces neither color nor palatability changes.
The use of meat-based products as vehicles for iron fortification is an unexplored pathway in iron deficiency prevention strategies. An important advantage is the natural content of heme iron and the presence of the “meat factor,” a well-known enhancer of iron absorption [17], [18], [19].
Fortificants made from hemoglobin have also been studied, because they contain almost exclusively heme iron, which is well absorbed and improves the rate of iron absorption in rats and humans from the common iron pool in the gut [20], [21]. Blood pigments containing heme iron are widely used in the meat industry, but their potential enhancing effect of iron absorption has not been explored yet.
Meat pate is a ready-to-eat spreadable product consumed by different population groups. It is an excellent source of highly bioavailable iron due to its content in heme iron, animal protein [22], and saturated fat [23]; therefore, it may be an adequate matrix for iron fortification. In a recent study in rats our group compared the relative iron absorption from two forms of iron, ferrous gluconate and ferric pyrophosphate encapsulated in liposomes (Lipofer, Lipofoods, Gavá, Barcelona, Spain.), when used as fortificants in meat pate, and observed that iron bioavailability was similar from both sources [15].
The present work compared the iron bioavailability in young iron-deficient women of meat pate products enriched with ferrous sulfate, ferric pyrophosphate encapsulated in liposomes, or ferric pyrophosphate encapsulated in liposomes plus a hemoglobin-based meat pigment.
Section snippets
Study design
This study was approved by the clinical research ethics committee of the Hospital Clinico San Carlos and the ethics committee of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (Madrid, Spain).
The study was a three-way, randomized, crossover, double-blind postprandial intervention.
Volunteer recruitment was carried out through advertisements in the Complutense University campus and advertising in Web pages of nutritional interest.
Twenty healthy, non-smoking, non-pregnant, non-anemic (hemoglobin >110
Results
Hematologic values at the beginning of the study corresponding to the 17 volunteers are listed in Table 1.
No significant differences were observed in serum iron concentration during the 6-h postprandial study due to the type of pate consumed and there was no interaction between the type of meal and time (Fig. 1). The time influence was significant (P = 0.005). Serum iron concentration increased steadily in hours 1 and 2 after eating the meals (P = 0.001, compared with basal values and between
Discussion
The use of serum iron increases is a feasible and reliable method to determine iron absorption that has been recently validated [26], [27], [28].
Our data of serum iron concentration at time 0 (baseline) are in accordance with reported values [26], [29], [30], [31], [32]. The evolution of serum iron concentration is in agreement with previous studies [31], [32]. Ekenved et al. [31] reported a maximum serum iron increase of 12 μmol/L 3 to 4 h after consuming a labeled meal containing 25 mg of 59
Conclusions
Consumption of pate fortified with ferric pyrophosphate encapsulated in liposomes can be part of a dietary strategy for preventing iron deficiency in humans. Long-term studies in which this pate is part of the usual diet are needed to confirm benefits in populations at risk of iron deficiency anemia, although the possible additional effects of adding a meat pigment rich in heme iron should be further studied.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the volunteers for their participation. They also thank Laura Barrios (Informatics and Statistics Service, Spanish Council for Scientific Research) for her statistical advice, and Monica Miquel (Nutrition Division, La Piara SA) for technical advice.
References (36)
- et al.
Iron bioavailability in infants from an infant cereal fortified with ferric pyrophosphate or ferrous fumarate
Am J Clin Nutr
(2000) - et al.
Iron bioavailability in humans from breakfast enriched with iron bis-glycine chelate, phytates and polyphenols
J Nutr
(2000) Fortification: overcoming technical and practical barriers
J Nutr
(2002)- et al.
High bioavailability of reduced iron added to UK flour
Lancet
(1999) - et al.
Particle size reduction and encapsulation affect the bioavailability of ferric pyrophosphate in rats
J Nutr
(2004) - et al.
Nonheme-iron absorption from a phytate-rich meal is increased by the addition of small amounts of pork meat
Am J Clin Nutr
(2003) - et al.
Effect of bovine-hemoglobin–fortified cookies on iron status of schoolchildren: a nationwide program in Chile
Am J Clin Nutr
(1993) - et al.
Meat protein fractions enhance nonheme iron absorption in humans
J Nutr
(2006) - et al.
Lean beef and beef fat interact to enhance nonheme iron absorption in rats
J Nutr
(1993) Simplified determination of serum iron and binding capacity by nitroso-R-salt without deproteinization
Clin Chim Acta
(1973)
Validation of the clinical approach of using the induced serum iron increase after 1h as a measure of iron absorption
Clin Nutr
Variation of serum iron concentration in young healthy men: within-day and day-to-day changes
Clin Biochem
Iron status and food matrix strongly affect the relative bioavailability of ferric pyrophosphate in humans
Am J Clin Nutr
The prevalence of anaemia in women: a tabulation of available information. Document WHO/NUT/MCM/92.2
Iron deficiency anaemia
Iron deficiency anaemia: assessment, prevention and controlA guide for programme managers. Document WHO/NHD/01.3
Iron bioavailability and utilization in rats are lower from lime-treated corn flour than from wheat flour when they are fortified with different sources of iron
J Nutr
In vitro iron availability from iron-fortified whole-grain wheat flour
J Agric Food Chem
Cited by (35)
Recovering heavy metals from electroplating wastewater and their conversion into Zn<inf>2</inf>Cr-layered double hydroxide (LDH) for pyrophosphate removal from industrial wastewater
2021, ChemosphereCitation Excerpt :Normally people acquire iron, the essential element in hemoglobin, from their food intake. The food supplement product is used to treat iron deficiency in people, who undertake dialysis, to treat their chronic kidney disease (Navas-Carretero et al., 2009). In metal-finishing industries, the same anion is utilized as a metal ligand (Ammar et al., 1989; Lačnjevac et al., 2012).
Iron bioavailability from food fortification to precision nutrition. A review
2019, Innovative Food Science and Emerging TechnologiesImprovement of the Functional and Healthy Properties of Meat Products
2018, Food Quality: Balancing Health and Disease: Volume 13Meat: The balance between nutrition and health. A review
2016, Meat ScienceIron enrichment of whole potato tuber by vacuum impregnation
2014, LWTCitation Excerpt :Ferric pyrophosphate was used for iron fortification in this study; it can be used as a food additive to prevent iron deficiency in humans without colour and palatability changes (Hurrell, 2002; IMNA, 2004; Navas-Carretero, Pérez-Granados, Sarriá, & Vaquero, 2009; Zimmermann & Hurrell, 2007). However, this salt is hardly soluble in water (Navas-Carretero et al., 2009), and a maximum concentration of 0.4 g/100 g (Kishi, 1972) was used in this study. The mass ratio of the solution to the potato of 3% W/W was used to ensure adequate immersion and minimize the dilution effect (leaching of intercellular sap) on the concentration of VI solution (Sormani, Maffi, Bertolo, & Torreggiani, 1999).
This study was supported by La Piara SA and the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. La Piara SA provided the iron-fortified pate test meals. S. Navas-Carretero was granted by a Comunidad de Madrid–European Social Fund FPI fellowship.