Effect of oilseed protein concentrates and exogenous amino acids on the dialysability of iron and zinc

Iron deficiency anaemia and zinc deficiency have been persistent public health problems worldwide. Both deficiencies are attributed to poor bioavailability of minerals. The investigation was undertaken to study the effect of oilseed protein concentrates and exogenous amino acids on the dialysability of iron and zinc. Corn flour matrices with 10-20 g protein/100 g were formulated using groundnut and sesame protein concentrates. Dialysability of iron and zinc in natural and mineral fortified matrices was analysed. The effect of exogenous cysteine, histidine, glycine and lysine on mineral dialysability was analysed in groundnut and sesame protein concentrates. Dialysability of iron was enhanced with increasing protein concentration in matrices with groundnut protein but decreased in matrices with sesame protein. Dialysability of zinc increased with increasing protein concentration with both the protein concentrates. Among the amino acids, histidine enhanced dialysability of iron in natural groundnut and sesame protein concentrates, glycine in fortified groundnut and lysine in fortified sesame protein concentrates to a considerable extent. Dialysability of zinc was enhanced in natural groundnut, natural and fortified sesame protein concentrates by all amino acids. Amino acids definitely promotes the dialysability of iron and zinc, but its enhancing ability is highly specific to the food matrix.