Dialyzability of Iron and Calcium in Functional Food Formulations

Three functional food formulations (FFF) viz; Nutricare I, Nutricare II and Nutricare DM were prepared with cereals, pulses and other functional food ingredients and fortified with pharmaceutical sources (PS) of iron (Fe) and calcium (Ca). The proximate composition and functional properties were analyzed. The in vitro dialyzability of Fe and Ca of the FFF were also investigated. Both the PS enhanced the total Fe and Ca of the formulations. The percent dialyzable Fe decreased after fortification whereas an enhancing effect was observed in Ca dialyzability in all 3 formulations. The results indicate that dual fortification of cereal based formulations enhanced the total mineral content (Fe & Ca) and Ca dialyzability of the food formulations.