Bioavailability of Iron and Zinc Fortified Whole Wheat Flour in Rats (Report‪)‬

Byline: Saeed Akhtar , Zia-ur-Rehman, Faqir Muhammad Anjum, Zulfiqar Ali and Atif Nisar - Emial: saeedbzu@yahoo.com Abstract.- The study aimed to compare the bioavailability of the elemental iron (EI), sodium iron ethylenediaminetetraacetate (NaFeEDTA), zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) and zinc oxide (ZnO) in whole wheat flour (WWF). Eight groups of Sprague Dawley rats (n=5) were supplied fortified WWF for 30 days and one group served as a control. Percentage absorption and deposition of iron and zinc were taken as the indices of bioavailability. Significantly (p0.05) higher iron and zinc absorption was observed in rats supplied with the fortified diet. Higher iron absorption was observed in diet groups fed NaFeEDTA, alone and with ZnO. Similarly, ingestion of ZnSO4 manifested the highest absorption of zinc when given alone and/or with EI and NaFeEDTA. The plasma zinc level did not show the effect of feeding fortified diet, however the zinc concentration in the liver increased as a result of fortification. Further, the presence of zinc in the diet (WWF) might have an antagonistic effect on iron absorption in rats.