engleski

Iron and manganese in wheat flour dietetic confectionery products

Fe and Mn are inorganic nutrients involved in many important enzymes and/or proteins and thereby in many physiological function of the organism. While manganese deficiency rarely occurs, it is well known that anemia caused by low dietary intake of Fe affects most parts of population and is one of the serious health problems in the world. In the last decade of the nutritional science, the evaluation of importance of food as a source of trace nutrients has been developed. It is common statement that functional foods have physiologically active components, beside their standard nutrient components that are necessary for the preservation of health condition and for the prevention of illness. Cereals and cereal products are rich source of trace elements in human diet, especially products produced from of with addition of whole flour, soya flour, and milk. Wheat flour confectionery products, especially different kinds of kard biscuits, are products often consumed particularly by children and old people. Therefore, it is of an interest to know if such products could be considered as a source of Fe and Mn, as well as other trace elements in the diet. However, there is a lack of literature data about trace elements content in confectionery products and their dietary intake. To assess some wheat flour hard biscuits produced in Croatia in regard to Fe and Mn contents and thus their nutritive value, Fe and Mn were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Analysis show that Fe content in different hard biscuits ranges from 0.97 mg to 2.58 mg/100 g dry matter, and Mn ranges from 0.39 mg to 1.71 mg/100 g dry matter. Since 100 g of biscuits, depending upon their composition, can cover from 10 percent to 25 percent of RDA value for Fe and to 30 percent of a provisional dietary Mn intake, recommend by USA National Research Council, wheat flour based hard biscuits, prticularly biscuits enriched with whole flour, whole meal, soya flour and or milk, can be considered as a good source of Fe and Mn in the diet.

dietetic products; iron; manganese; intake

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