About project
PROGRAMME 4 "PARTNERSHIPS IN PRIORITY S&T DOMAINS" 2007-2013
Line of research: 5. Agriculture, food safety and security
Project category: CP - Complex research-development projects
Contract number: 51 - 092/2007
Running time: 2007 - 2010
PROJECT ABSTRACT
Ferriprive anaemia affects 50% of children within 2 years and 30% of those with 5 years in Romania, according to a study conducted by UNICEF, Ministry of Health and the "Alfred Russescu" Institute of Mother and Child Care 25% of pregnant women and approximately 32% of those breast feeding have iron deficiencies and ferriprive anaemia. Diet therapy of iron deficiencies plays a major role in treating this condition. In the diet, iron is present in two forms:
Haeminic iron is separated from the globulinic component and absorbed unmodified. Conversely, ferric iron, prior to absorption, must be released from the complex and reduced to its ferrous form by the gastric juice and reducers in the diet, such as ascorbic acid from processed and unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Although haeminic iron has and advantage as its absorption is not conditioned by the presence of reducing agents, unavailable sometimes (e.g. achlorhydria, gastrectomy), an excessive consumption of foods containing it (e.g. red meat, liver) may cause digestive disorders or an increase in lack of appetite, very common in children with iron deficiency.
Thus, diet therapy must be balanced as not to create a digestive discomfort and to correct most efficiently the lack of iron in the system. Considering all of the above, the main objective of the project, is to develop functional foods with high iron content and with increased bioavailability in the human body:
Two product categories are taken into account, given the prevalence of these products in the diet of vulnerable population groups (i.e. children, adolescents, pregnant women, breast-feeding mothers).
Fortification will be done using both natural sources (e.g. egg yolk, dried apricots, nuts etc.) and ferrous organic salts with increased bioavailability and permitted by current regulations (fumarate, citrate, lactate, gluconate). The level for fortification with iron salts will be established function of their allowed maxim limits (Codex Alimentarius) and of recommended daily intake for iron (function sex, age, physiological state).
Although meat products have higher iron contents than processed fruit products, the latter are recommended by nutritionists for diet therapy. Researchers have proven that the value of a food as a source of iron is given by the form of iron, than by the total content of iron. Increased solubility, slight ionization and ferrous state are characteristics that translate into a better iron assimilation by the human body. Ascorbic acid reduces trivalent iron to its bivalent state in fruits, making it available for the organism.
Acceptability (i.e. sensory characteristics and digestive tolerance) and diet therapy efficiency of developed fortified products will be assessed by conducting clinical trials in specialized laboratories. Assessment of bioavailability will be done by monitoring the following blood parameters:
Transfer of developed technology to the economic agent involved in the project will guarantee capitalization of results.
Potential beneficiaries of the project are: