Abstract
Green leafy vegetables are considered a good source of iron in Sri Lankan diets, particularly among populations dependant on plant based diets. The iron status of diets can be improved by including iron rich plant sources and enhancing the bioavailability by cooking/ processing. The mean total iron content + SD of the green leafy vegetables studied were as follows (expressed as fresh weight, mg/ lOOg): sarana (Trianthema portulacastrum L.): 6.7+1.5, rathu thampala (Amaranthus Hvidis.L.): 13.4+2.7; nivithi (BasellaalbaL,): 1.3+0.6;kathrumurunga {Sesbaniagrandiflora (L.) Poir.}: 3.2+0.7; mukunuwenna {Alternanthera sessili (L.)Dc.}: 1.8+0.3; kankun (Ipomoea aquatica. Forssk.): 1.9±0.9 and gotukola {Centella asiatica (L). Urban}: 5.2+1.6. The seasonal variation observed was not significant p>0.05 over the period of one year. These values indicate that the contribution of iron from green leafy vegetables to the diets is low. The freshly cooked and dehydrated-cooked samples (hot-air drier at 55°C) were blended with water and subjected to simulated gastro-intestinal digestion procedures, following which the proportion of iron that diffused through a semi permeable membrane (molecular mass cut-off 10 kDa) determined-cooked as the dialyzable iron. This was quantified spectrophometrically at 535 nm. The dialysable iron extracted from the freshly cooked and dehydrated - cooked green leafy vegetables ranged between 1.5-13.4 % and 3.6-17.6% respectively. Accordingly the best sources of available iron from green leafy vegetables are sarana, kathrumurunga and rathu thampala.
Highlights
Green leafy vegetables are considered a good source of iron, calcium and B-carotene in Sri Lankan diets, This study reports the seasonal variation in the total iron content of seven green leafy vegetables and evaluates their in-vitro availability of iron for indexing the best sources of iron available from the same which are commonly consumed in Sri Lanka
The dialyzable iron extracted from the seven green leafy vegetables varied between the plant materials (Table 1)
The total iron content of the green leafy vegetables monitored over a period of twelve months was not significantly different (p> 0.05)
Summary
Green leafy vegetables are considered a good source of iron, calcium and B-carotene in Sri Lankan diets, This study reports the seasonal variation in the total iron content of seven green leafy vegetables and evaluates their in-vitro availability of iron (as dialysable iron) for indexing the best sources of iron available from the same which are commonly consumed in Sri Lanka
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More From: Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka
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