Food matrix and cooking process affect mineral bioaccessibility of enteral nutrition formulas

BACKGROUND When enteral formulas (EF) are administered orally as a supplement to the normal diet, they are often mixed with conventional foods or included in recipes in order to seek new flavors and textures and avoid monotony. The aims of this work were to study the bioaccessibility of Fe, Zn and Ca from commercial EF and the impact upon their incorporation into sweet preparations. Twenty commercial EF, before and after inclusion in sweet food (rice pudding, RP; banana smoothie, BS; tea, T; chocolate dessert, CD) were evaluated regarding Fe, Zn and Ca dialyzability (%DFe, %DZn, %DCa) as an estimator of mineral bioaccessibility. RESULTS Fe, Zn and Ca dialyzability from EF was variable and generally low. Heating during EF–sweet food preparation (T and CD) lowered values to 44.1 %DFe, possibly due to degradation of vitamin C, and 52.7 %DZn and 25.3 %DCa, due to the interaction with food components. CONCLUSION EF and EF–sweet foods did not represent a good supply of Fe, Zn and Ca as recommended. This study demonstrated how the bioaccessibility of these minerals is affected by the food matrix in which EF is included as well as heating during food preparation. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry