Abstract
Background: Micronutrient deficiencies continue to afflict children rural populations around the world. A micronutrient delivery vehicle (MDV) was developed as a point-of-use technology for fortification of meals for school-age children beneficiaries of the Healthy Schools Program (HSP) in Honduras. Results: MDV combines micronutrient powder through a traditional dough-making process, using staple flours (wheat and nixtamalized corn), oil and water as ingredients. After mixing the ingredients and kneading, dough is extruded through a specially designed hand press into noodles. After drying (overnight, 23°C), noodles are broken into small pieces, mixed (1:100 w/w) with rice and cooked as customary. Dispersion studies with NaFeEDTA showed adequate distribution (<10% RSD) and recovery (>90%) in white rice. Color changes in MDV due to addition of vitamin A and iron (NaFeEDTA) carried forward into cooked rice. In Honduras, children from two rural schools (N = 47, 6-12 years) were not able to differentiate (triangle test) between control and unfortified MDV mixed (1:100 w/w) with white rice. Children from four schools (N = 83, 7-12 years) accepted control and iron fortified rice (3 mg Fe per serving) based on color and flavor similarly. Conclusion: This is a feasible point-of-use fortification technology for improvement of meals provided by the HSP in Honduras.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 393-400 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture |
Volume | 95 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 30 2015 |
Keywords
- Iron
- Micronutrients
- Point-of-use fortification
- Rural households
- School meals
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biotechnology
- Food Science
- Agronomy and Crop Science
- Nutrition and Dietetics