Fortification effects of different iron compounds on refined wheat flour stability

The characterization of the modifications that may occur during the storage of iron-fortified wheat flour is an important tool for understanding the variations in the product quality, since iron may present pro-oxidant activity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of refined wheat flour fortification with different iron compounds (ferrous sulfate, ferrous fumarate, reduced iron, sodium iron ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, microencapsulated ferrous sulfate, and microencapsulated ferrous fumarate) on quality and stability parameters. For this purpose, it was evaluated the following parameters: titratable acidity, color, peroxide value, and hexanal during 120 days of storage. The iron content was in average 1.0 mg/100 g in unfortified flour (control) and it varied from 4.4 to 5.8 mg/100 g in fortified samples. It was observed that wheat flour fortification, with different iron compounds, caused modifications on quality and stability parameters during storage. Ferrous sulfate was the compound that most affected flour quality parameters. The microencapsulated compounds (ferrous sulfate and fumarate) also altered flour quality and stability. In contrast, the reduced iron was the compound that promoted the most stability to flour. These results indicate the influence of different iron compounds on wheat flour quality and stability during storage.