Evaluation of the bioaccessible fractions of Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn in baby foods Emanueli do Nascimento da Silva, Ana Beatriz Perriello Leme, Mirla Cidade, Solange Cadore n Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, P.O. Box 6154, 13083-970 Campinas, SP, Brazil article info Article history: Received 19 July 2013 Received in revised form 3 September 2013 Accepted 5 September 2013 Available online 11 September 2013 Keywords: Bioaccessibility Inorganic constituents Baby foods abstract The bioaccessibility of four essential micronutrients (iron, zinc, copper and manganese) in some baby foods was evaluated using an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model. For all of the flour-based foods evaluated, the bioaccessibility of Zn was low, while the bioaccessibility of Cu was above 50%. For these samples, the bioaccessibility of Mn was lower than 50%. Two samples composed of oat and rice flour and whole wheat flour demonstrated a lower bioaccessible fraction of Fe (less than 35%), while the sample made with wheat flour showed high Fe bioaccessibility (approximately 80%). For vegetable- and meat- based baby foods, the Fe bioaccessibility was greater than 80% in samples that contained meat and chicken and approximately 20% for the banana-based sample. The bioaccessibility of Zn was small for all of the foods studied, and in some cases, no Zn appeared to be released. The sample containing banana showed 100% Cu bioaccessibility, in contrast to meat and chicken-based samples, whose Cu bioacces- sibility values were less than 50%. The opposite effect occurred for Mn, in which samples containing meat and chicken presented a bioaccessible fraction greater than 50% while the banana-based sample had a fraction less than 50%. & 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that breast milk should be the only nutrition source for children up to six months of age. However, less than 35% of children in the world at this age are in exclusive breastfeeding [1]. Infant formulas are very common breast milk substitutes in the USA and Europe [2–4], while the substitutes in developing countries are usually cow's milk, which may be powder or liquid and sweetened or unsweetened, and crushed solid food [5]. Additionally, a number of commercial infant foods are available for babies, such as instant milk flour, which can be mixed with milk, fruit or salty foods, or processed baby foods containing meat, vegetables, rice or pasta, whose favorable textures facilitate the ingestion by infants [4]. Food intended for children should be better controlled and special attention should be given to monitor amounts of protein, calories, vitamins and nutrients because dietary deficiencies of essential minerals and nutrients may lead to considerable social costs, the reduction of human potential and demands for large investments in health [4,6,7]. Information about inorganic constituents usually indicates the total concentrations present in the diet [8]. However, the total concentration of a nutrient in baby food is not sufficient informa- tion to determine whether the food will provide all of an infant's nutritional requirements. A very important factor is the bioacces- sibility of the element, which is its soluble fraction that can be effectively absorbed by the body [8,9]. This fraction depends on the elemental species and the behavior of these species and organometallic complexes in the gastrointestinal tract, as well as the interaction with the food matrix. It is important to determine the fraction of nutrient that is potentially free to be absorbed, in addition to the factors that enhance absorption (e.g., ascorbic acid, bovine serum albumin, and meat proteins) or inhibit absorption (e. g., dietary fibers, polyphenols, acids, phosphates, calcium salts, and casein). This information is necessary to evaluate the real con- sumption of essential micronutrients, which is typically carried out using an in vitro sequential analysis with synthetic gastric and intestinal juices and analyzing the nutrients' soluble fractions [8]. Another important factor is the bioavailability of a nutrient, which is the amount that is effectively absorbed by the body to be used in physiological functions or stored for future use [10]. Many studies have quantified nutrients or toxic elements in baby foods, and some indicate the importance of bioaccessibility and/or bioavailability. Frontela et al. [11] studied the bioaccessibility of Fe, Ca and Zn using an in vitro procedure, in which five different cereals with low phytate contents complemented breastfeeding of children from 4 to 6 months of age. These cereals were mixed with water and follow-on formulas, and the results showed higher Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/talanta Talanta 0039-9140/$ - see front matter & 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.talanta.2013.09.008 n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ55 19 3521 3125; fax: þ55 19 3521 3023. E-mail address: cadore@iqm.unicamp.br (S. Cadore). Talanta 117 (2013) 184–188