Efficacy of Iron Fortification to Augment the Nutritional Quality of Some Winter Season Leafy Vegetables

摘要

Iron is one of the most important micronutrients essential for human subsistence which is availablein our diet through different vegetables (leafy vegetables, leguminous vegetables, cruciferousvegetables, cucurbits, potato, sweet potato, drumstick etc.) but especially the leafy vegetables. Thedifferent leafy vegetables are the reservoir of different vitamins and minerals that mostly includecalcium, phosphorous and iron. Iron deficiency leads to anaemia is a threat throughout the world,more specifically found in women and children. Enrichment of iron content of these leafy vegetablescan be achieved through iron fertilization which may play vital role to alleviate the problem ofanaemia. Besides this, less bioavailability of non heme iron content (iron in plants) is also a bigchallenge. Considering these two factors, an experimental study was conducted in factorialrandomized block design with three replications during the winter season of the year of 2018-19 atUBKV, Pundibari, Cooch Behar to evaluate the status of iron enrichment in ten (10) popular greenleafy vegetables (Amaranthus, buck wheat leaves, coriander leaves, fenugreek leaves, garden pealeaves, Malva leaves, mustard leaves, onion leaves, palak leaves, radish leaves). Ferrous sulphateheptahydrate (FeSo 4 , 7H 2 O, 16% Fe) was applied as a source of iron fertilizer in three differentmodes (Soil, foliar and combination of soil and foliar) along with control. Application of iron fertilizersignificantly increased the leaf iron content and it showed synergistic effect on other qualityparameters like ascorbic acid content, vitamin A content, and total chlorophyll content of the leafyvegetables. Highest leaf iron content at first (22.43 mg/100 g), second (21.30 mg/100 g) and third(20.26 mg/100 g) harvesting was found in Amaranthus from the treatment of 100% ofrecommended dose (0.5 g/lit of water) of ferrous sulphate heptahydrate (FeSo 4 , 7H 2 O, 16% Fe)through foliar spray at 4 weeks after sowing (T 2 L 1 ).Therefore, iron fortification of leafy vegetablesthrough ferrous sulphate heptahydrate (FeSo 4 , 7H 2 O, 16% Fe) application might be a feasiblealternative to mitigate the problem of iron deficiency anaemia as well as to meet the daily needs ofiron through consumption of iron rich leafy vegetables.