Fortified cookies for sustainable iron deficiency management
Innovative fortified cookies using sorghum, ragi, and sprouted kidney beans to enhance iron intake. This food-based solution offers a practical, scalable, and affordable approach to combat iron deficiency, integrating nutrients into daily diets with improved mineral bioavailability.
Overview
Fortified cookies developed using composite flours of sorghum, ragi, and sprouted kidney beans present a sustainable nutritional strategy to combat iron deficiency. These cookies are designed to integrate essential nutrients into daily diets, providing a practical, affordable, and scalable functional food solution. The ingredients are not only nutrient-dense but also locally available and traditionally consumed, ensuring cultural acceptability. By sprouting kidney beans, the mineral bioavailability is enhanced, and anti-nutritional factors are reduced, making these cookies an effective vehicle for iron fortification.
Technical specifications
Key features:
- Composite Flours: Incorporation of sorghum, ragi, and sprouted kidney beans enhances the nutritional profile with iron, protein, and dietary fiber.
- Enhanced Bioavailability: Sprouting of kidney beans improves mineral absorption and reduces anti-nutritional factors.
- Baking Methods: Standard baking techniques are employed to ensure safety, sensory acceptability, and shelf stability.
- Nutritional Delivery: Optimized formulation for quality and acceptability, with evaluations on proximate composition, functional properties, and sensory characteristics.
Technology readiness level
The fortified cookies are at Technology Readiness Level 3. They have been conceptualized and validated in laboratory settings, with ongoing evaluations for product optimization and sensory acceptability. Future work involves comprehensive testing for nutritional delivery and potential scale-up.
About Vishwakarma Institute Of Technology
Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT Pune) is an autonomous engineering institute in Pune, established in 1983 and permanently affiliated with Savitribai Phule Pune University. It engages industry through sponsored research, consultancy, and industry‑supported laboratories, with project‑centric learning aimed at real‑world problem solving. An innovation council and a dedicated IP cell support prototyping, IP protection, and entrepreneurship, with incubation activity to move concepts toward products. Faculty compete for government and industry funding, backed by internal support for proposal development and project management. Partners benefit from Pune’s dense manufacturing and IT ecosystem, which enables regular site interaction and quicker pilots.
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