Compositional and processing effects in promoting the bioaccessibility of iron and zinc of ready to cook high protein kheer mix.

Iron and zinc deficiencies are the major micronutrient deficiencies of public health resulting from poor bioavailability
due to the presence of phytic acid from plant foods. The investigation was undertaken to formulate a
high protein kheer mix using different legumes and processing by different modes of thermal and enzymatic
treatment and identify the one with maximum bioaccessibility of minerals. Semolina based kheer mixes with
different decorticated split legumes (dhal) were formulated by adopting different modes of thermal treatment
such as dry and moist heat. Phytase treatment was tested in one of the processing methods. The ready to cook
kheer mix formulation with different legumes contained 20–34% protein, 3.4–11.7 mg iron and 2.1–3.0 mg zinc
per 100 g. Bioaccessibility of minerals was negligible due to high phytic acid content. A strong negative correlation
existed between the iron bioaccessibility and phytic acid in raw and processed mixes. Among the
treatments adopted, a combination of enzymatic and moist heat treatment was found to be effective in promoting
the bioaccessibility of minerals. The enhancement noticed in bioaccessible iron was 2.0–2.6 fold and
2.0–4.0 fold for zinc in reconstituted kheer with good organoleptic scores. Further trials with fortification of
minerals are warranted.