Low zinc, iron, and calcium intakes of Northeast Thai school children consuming glutinous rice-based diets are not exacerbated by high phytate

Abstract

Phytate, a salt of phytic acid (myo-inositol 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexakisphosphate), is found in certain plant-based foods. It strongly chelates minerals, forming insoluble complexes in the small intestine that cannot be digested or absorbed. Information on the phytate content of rice-based diets of children in Northeast Thailand is limited. In this study 1-day weighed duplicate diet composites were collected from 40 Northeast Thai children (age 6-13 years) randomly selected from participants (n=567) of an efficacy trial in Ubon Ratchathani province. Diet composites were analyzed for zinc, iron, and calcium by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and for phytate (as inositol penta-phosphate and hexa-phosphate) by high-performance liquid chromatography; the accuracy and precision were established using a certified reference material for the minerals and an inter-laboratory comparison for phytate. The median (1st, 3rd quartiles) zinc, iron, and calcium contents of the diet composites were 4.3 (3.7, 6.1), 4.3 (3.2, 6.5) and 130 (82, 216) mg/day, respectively. The inositol penta-phosphate and hexa-phosphate levels were so low they were below the detection limit, attributed in part to leaching of water-soluble potassium and magnesium phytate from glutinous rice after soaking overnight before cooking. Clearly, phytate will not compromise mineral absorption from these diets. Instead, low zinc intakes are probably primarily responsible for the low zinc status of these children. In contrast, although intakes of dietary iron appear low, the prevalence of biochemical iron deficiency was also low, suggesting that iron absorption may have been higher than previously assumed. Whether the low calcium intakes compromise optimal bone health in these growing Northeast Thai school children is unknown.

Effects of Rough Rice Moisture Content at Harvest on Peak Viscosity

“…All selected cereals and millets had almost the same level of total, soluble, and dialyzable calcium in raw and in cooked form, and little increase was observed in cooked ones. The calcium content for these cereals and millets was comparable with the values reported in the literature (Ma et al 2005; Krittaphol et al 2006; Abebe et al 2007; Liang et al 2010).…”

Intakes from non‐breastmilk foods for stunted toddlers living in poor urban villages of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, are inadequate

“…1997) and the Philippines (FNRI 1997), and values for Indonesian foods from the World Food Dietary Assessment System (Bunch & Murphy 1997). The values for phytate, iron, zinc and calcium for the traditional rice porridge ( borbor ) were based on direct chemical analyses of samples purchased from vendors in the study area in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and analysed in our laboratory; details of the analytical methods used have been published earlier (Krittaphol et al . 2007).…”

Poor dietary quality of complementary foods is associated with multiple micronutrient deficiencies during early childhood in Mongolia

“…Exceptions were the Fe, Zn, Ca and phytate values for the wheat flours used for the Mongolian porridges ( bantan , semolina). These were based on chemical analyses of wheat flour samples purchased from vendors in the study areas in Ulaanbaatar, using methods reported earlier ( 24 ) . The nutrient composition of composite dishes was calculated from the household recipe data.…”