Development of an instant heme iron-fortified beverage

Abstract

Iron deficiency is the most widespread cause of anemia and it is estimated that it currently affects population in both low-income and developed countries. Blood is a by-product of meat industry with high nutritional value and important functional properties, as well as, a valuable source of heme iron. The influence of inlet air temperature in a range of 120 to 150 oC and feed flow rate between 300 and 600 mL/h were analyzed to develop an instant beverage for use as a nutritional supplement by spray-drying bovine blood using response surface design. The following response variables were evaluated: yield, moisture and heme iron retention. The best combination was achieved with an inlet air temperature of 124 oC and feed flow rate of 300 mL/h. With these conditions a product with 92.4% yield, 6.7% wb moisture content and 50.7% heme iron retention were obtained. The instant beverage obtained with the optimized parameters presented a good sensory quality