Influence of the design of a product on in vitro mineral availability of homogenized weaning foods

Abstract

The influence of the design of the product (percentage of main ingredients used in the formulation of the product) on mineral content and their ‘in vitro’ bioavailability, such as total dietary fibre (TDF) and phytic acid (PA) of a meat-based infant weaning food was studied. Phosphorus, Ca, Zn and Fe concentration and ‘in vitro’ availability of Ca, Fe and Zn changed depending on the percentage of rice flour, carrot, pea puree and chicken liver in the weaning foods. Also TDF contents depends on the design of the product, and both, FA and TDF, reduce the mineral bioavailability. Increasing pea puree and carrot in the formulation of the weaning food could increase P and Ca content. On the other hand, carrot supplies high TDF, therefore contributing to reduction of Ca availability. Iron content was positively correlated with the percentage of chicken liver. Percentage of carrot and pea puree included in the formulation of the weaning foods analysed determined the differences in Fe availability as significant positive regression coefficients ( b=0.676, P<0.05 and b=0.622, P<0.05, respectively) were found. Using the in vitro availability values we have performed Cluster analysis and principal components analysis (PCA) to establish the best combination of percentages of raw ingredient which provides the highest mineral availability.