Effect of EDTA on the bioavailability to rats of fortification iron used in Egyptian balady bread.

The effectiveness of EDTA compounds on iron fortificants for potential use in Egyptian balady bread was tested in sixty Sprague-Dawley weanling male rats by the haemoglobin regeneration efficiency (HRE) method. To confirm HRE-derived findings, eight groups of ten animals were repleted with a modified American Institute of Nutrition (1977; AIN) 76A diet, fortified with ferric phosphate, electrolytic Fe, carbonyl Fe or ferrous sulphate, with and without ascorbic acid. Results without ascorbic acid were comparable to findings of a human study by Forbes et al. (1989). Bioavailability of EDTA-enhanced fortificants, FeSO4 + Na2EDTA and NaFe(III)EDTA, was compared with that of FeSO4 in six groups of ten animals repleted with a ground Egyptian bread meal or a casein-based AIN diet fortified with one of the three compounds. Addition of either EDTA compound significantly increased bioavailability of Fe in Egyptian balady bread. When present in the less inhibitory casein meal, however, FeSO4 + Na2EDTA fortification was significantly less effective than NaFe(III)EDTA or the reference FeSO4. Results indicate that NaFe(III)EDTA may be the fortificant of choice in a mixed diet. Further study of EDTA-enhanced Fe fortificants is needed.