RELATIVE BIOAVAILABILITY IN ADULTS OF IRON FROM A SOYBEAN PRODUCT INTENDED FOR COMPLEMENTARY FEEDING OF INFANTS

The relative bioavailability of iron sulphate added to a soybean produ ct intended for use as a fortified product for complementary feeding o f infants was determined. Ten adults received 100 mg elemental iron in an aqueous Fe(II)-sulphate solution and 1 week later 100 mg elemental iron mixed into 30 g soybean milk powder. Plasma iron concentrations were measured before, and 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 h after consumption. Th e area under the concentration/time curve (AUC+), the peak plasma leve l (t(max)) and the relative bioavailability were determined. The peak of the plasma iron level after receiving 100 mg of iron solution was 1 76.71 +/- 39.05 mu g/dl at t(max) = 2.8 +/- 1.03 h while it was 139.82 +/- 34.47 mu g/dl at t(max) = 2.4 +/- 1.3 h after consuming 30 g of s oybean milk product mixed with 100 mg iron solution. The relative bioa vailability of iron in the soybean product was 45.8% compared to iron solution. Based on these results it is suggested that the soybean prod uct should be fortified with 10mg/100g product of iron sulphate to pro vide 30% of the iron RDA for infants.