CONTENT AND IN-VITRO AVAILABILITY OF PE, ZN, MG, CA AND P IN HOMOGENIZED FISH-BASED WEANING FOODS AFTER BONE ADDITION

The aim of the present study was to compare the Fe, Zn, Mg, Ca and P c ontents and their in vitro availability in five fish-based infant wean ing foods, as a function of the fish bone added with the muscle. The w eaning foods studied were: sole without bone (S); hake without bone (H ); sole with bone and hake without bone (SBH); sole with bone (SB); an d hake with bone (HB). Low levels of Fe and Zn and low percentages of these dialysed minerals were found in all the weaning foods assayed. T he incorporation of bone increased the Ca and P contents, particularly in HE weaning food (92.8 +/- 0.44 mg 100 g(-1) for Ca and 274 +/- 1.9 3 mg 100 g(-1) for P). The amounts of Ca and P dialysed were also high er in the weaning foods with bone. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.