Folic acid and iron evaluation in Brazilian enriched corn and wheat flours

Abstract

O ácido fólico tem sido identificado como uma das mais importantes vitaminas para a função normal do metabolismo humano. A deficiência de ferro é um sério problema de saúde que afeta uma grande proporção da população do mundo. No Brasil, foi publicada uma regulamentação indicando que farinhas de milho e trigo devem ser fortificadas com ácido fólico e ferro. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os níveis de ácido fólico e ferro em algumas farinhas enriquecidas. A quantificação de ambos nutrientes indicou que a concentração de ácido fólico variou entre 96 a 558 µg per 100 g (em milho) e 73 a 233 µg per 100g (em trigo) e de 3,8 a 8,7 mg per 100 g (em milho) e 4,6 a 7,4 mg per 100g (em trigo) para ferro. Portanto, a população brasileira parece estar exposta a concentrações inadequadas de ácido fólico e ferro quando farinhas de trigo e milho são consumidas.Folic acid has been identified as one of the most important vitamins for normal human metabolic function. Iron deficiency is a serious health problem affecting a large proportion of the world population. In Brazil, an issue has been ruled requiring that corn and wheat flours must be fortified by the addition of folic acid and iron. The aim of this work was to evaluate the levels of folic acid and iron in some enriched flours. The successful quantification of both nutrients indicated that the levels of folic acid are in the range of 96 to 558 µg per 100g (in corn) and 73 to 233 µg per 100 g (in wheat) and from 3.8 to 8.7 mg per 100 g (in corn) and 4.6 to 7.4 mg per 100g (in wheat) for iron. Finally the Brazilian population seems to be exposed to inadequate concentrations of folic acid and iron when consuming enriched corn flours and some wheat flours.

Methods for analysis of thiamin and folic acid by HPLC—DAD in fortified rice pure and mixed to milled rice before and after different cooking techniques

“…These values are within the range of 80 to 110% set by the AOAC [28]. Studies were found in the literature with similar percentages for the recovery of thiamin, of between 73 to 106% [21,23,24] and 81 to 103% for folic acid [25,27,29]. …”

“…The value found for thiamin was lower than the limits of detection found by Hucker et al [24], Presoto and AlmeidaMuradian [25], and San José Rodriguez [22], being 0.02 μg, 0.03 μg, and 0.06 μg, respectively. In relation to folic acid, values of 0.003 μg, 0.0013 μg, and 0.06 μg were found by Boen et al [26], Lebiedziñska et al [27], and Alaburda et al [28], respectively.…”

“…The coefficient of determination for thiamin and folic acid was 0.9998 and 0.9997, respectively. Studies analyzing these vitamins found coefficients of determination for thiamin of 0.9957 [21], 0.9967 [22], 0.9998 [23], and 0.9950 [24] and for folic acid of 0.9838 [22], 0.9997 [25], 0.9980 [26], and 0.9999 [27].…”

Primary prevention of neural tube defects in Brazil: insights into anencephaly

“…A study on a total of 70 samples of flour from supermarkets in the cities of Campinas and São Paulo State, one of the states with significantly reduced risk of anencephaly ( Table 2), showed that the concentration of folic acid ranged between 96 and 558 mg per 100 g (in corn) and 73-233 mg per 100 g (in wheat). These results showed a great variation in FA concentration, and that the Brazilian population would seem to be most likely exposed to inadequate concentrations of FA (Rezende Boen et al 2008) (Tables 2 and 3). In this study, on the one hand, the concentrations were very close or lower than the issued value (wheat flours).…”

Prevalência de defeitos do tubo neural no estado de São Paulo antes e após a fortificação das farinhas com ácido fólico

“…No Brasil, em análise de seis marcas de farinha de milho e oito de farinha de trigo, Boen et al (2008) verificaram que a concentração de ácido fólico variava de 96 a 558g/100g nas farinhas de milho, sendo que cinco apresentavam média acima dos 150g/100g de farinha estabelecido na legislação; nas farinhas de trigo, a concentração média variava de 73 a 233g/100g e duas apresentavam quantidade superior ao estabelecido. Assim, é fundamental controlar rigorosamente a quantidade de ácido fólico presente nas farinhas e monitorar os programas de fortificação para documentar os reais benefícios dessa estratégia para a saúde pública (Crider et al, 2011).…”