Abstract:
Complementary food plays an important role in contributing adequate nutrients to
infants after the first four to six months. Calcium and iron were found to be
inadequate in complementary food of breast-fed infants in Thailand, while thiamin,
and folate were potentially the problem nutrients. At least 90% of the Thai mothers
prepared complementary food themselves by using rice as a basic ingredient. Dried
broken rice was a convenient product that was widely used for preparing
complementary food. In this study, the feasibility of fortifying dried broken rice with
calcium, iron, thiamin and folate at the levels recommended in the WHO guideline
(2001) was conducted. Four fortification processes were studied. The most feasible
process was pre-drying broken rice at 90oC for 1 h, soaking in vitamin and mineral
solution (at ratio 2:1, rice:solution), and finally drying at 70oC for 1 h 50 min. The
product needed 8-9 min. for cooking. Calcium lactate or calcium lactate gluconate
was the calcium source while ferrous sulfate, ferrous lactate, or sodium iron EDTA
was the iron source. Vitamin sources included thiamin hydrochloride and folic acid.
Per serving (20 g), the product consisted of 40 mg Ca, 5.3 mg Fe, 0.08 mg thiamin,
and 11 μg folate. The result from a home use test in 52 infants aged 4-24 mo.
indicated that the complementary foods prepared by using the product as a basic
ingredient was accepted by mothers, caretakers, and infants in terms of sensory quality
and convenience. Approximately 5 and 12% of Ca and Fe, respectively was lost
during processing, while thiamin loss was approximately 20% and folate loss ranged
from 15-41%. Losses of thiamin during accelerated storage condition (42oC for 3
mo.) were not significant (p>0.05). Both metallized and commercial plastic bags
could not prevent rancidity in most products except the one fortified with NaFeEDTA
during storage. An In vitro bioavailability study indicated that NaFeEDTA was the
most effective as compared to ferrous sulfate and ferrous lactate.