Food-to-food fortified curd products for iron enhancement in prenatal women

Overview

This research proposes a food-to-food fortification strategy targeting iron deficiency in prenatal women, a condition affecting approximately 52% of pregnant women globally. The approach enriches natural probiotic dairy curds with iron-rich vegetables and fruits, addressing the limitations of conventional iron supplementation methods such as ferrous salts and elemental iron powders, which can generate reactive oxygen species that alter gut permeability.

The solution overcomes key anti-nutritional barriers like phytates and polyphenols by incorporating ascorbic acid-rich ingredients in a 1:2 iron-to-ascorbic acid ratio, significantly enhancing non-heme iron absorption and bioavailability. A comprehensive Linear Programming tool will identify optimal, locally available ingredient combinations to create ready-to-use fortified formulations, including curd powder, corn curd spread, and cottage cheese variants.

Technical specifications

Key features:

• Food-to-food fortification using dairy curds as a natural probiotic carrier enriched with iron-rich vegetables and fruits
• Ascorbic acid infusion at a 1:2 iron-to-ascorbic acid ratio to overcome phytate and polyphenol inhibition and enhance non-heme iron bioavailability
• Multiple product formats including fortified curd powder for extended shelf life, corn curd spread, and cottage cheese
• Linear Programming tool for identifying diversified, cost-effective healthy food combinations meeting RDA requirements for pregnant women
• In vitro iron absorption assessment using Caco-2 cell lines
• In vivo bioavailability validation in mice models with microbiome analysis to evaluate gut biota impact
• Biochemical, analytical, and organoleptic (sensory) evaluation with a subject pool of 50 across varied age groups

Technology readiness level

The research is currently in the formulation and validation stage. Initial product formulations including curd powder, corn curd spread, and cottage cheese are being developed with biochemical and analytical assays underway. Sensory evaluation protocols have been defined. Future validation will include Caco-2 cell line studies for iron absorption, mice model bioavailability testing, and microbiome analysis to confirm gut health benefits. The technology is at an early-to-mid stage development (TRL 3-4), with planned progression toward comprehensive nutritional validation and potential scale-up for addressing iron deficiency anemia in prenatal populations.