Iron absorption from a novel iron-enriched fungal fortificant in young women
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Abstract
Iron deficiency is the most prevalent micronutrient deficiency, attributing to approximately 800 million individuals with anemia, worldwide. This nutrient deficiency is greatly attributed to consumption of high plant-based diets and foods that have low bioavailable iron. Challenges arise in iron fortification, as the most affordable and conventional iron compounds have low bioavailability, therefore efforts have been made towards finding an iron fortificant with high bioavailability. The objective of this research was to determine the iron absorption of an iron-enriched fungus, Aspergillus oryzae (ASP-p) and determine its effectiveness compared to current fortificants ferric pyrophosphate (FePP) and ferrous sulfate (FeSO4). Two, single-blinded cross-over studies were conducted using a dual-labelled isotope method in young female subjects. Results indicated a 2.3 fold higher absorption in ASP-p compare to FePP (P = 0.0001), whereas ASP-p reported significantly lower absorption (P = 0.0001) than FeSO4.