Vitamin A stability in triple fortified extruded, artificial rice grains containing iron, zinc and vitamin A

摘要

Multi-micronutrient-fortified rice could be an effective and sustainable approach to combat micronutrient deficiencies. We produced hot-extruded artificial rice grains fortified with 10 mg iron (as micronised ground ferric pyrophosphate), 5 mg zinc (as oxide, sulphate or carbonate) and 750 μg vitamin A/g [as retinyl palmitate (RP)] and measured RP stability. The rice was designed to be mixed 1:200 with natural rice. Mean RP losses were 5.3% during extrusion, 28.5% during storage and 9.8% during cooking. Storage losses after 18 weeks at 30 ℃ in plastic packages exposed to light were ca 40% with iron and zinc causing no further losses. In aluminium packages (no light), mean RP losses were ca 20%. Iron, but not zinc, increased RP degradation. Zinc sulphate increased the negative effect of iron. The relatively good stability of RP during hot extrusion can be explained by the closed surface and dense nature of the artificial grain protecting RP from oxidation.