Iron-rich Teff-grain bread: an opportunity to improve individual's iron status

Abstract

Bread has been a popular staple food for many years. In the UK the average individual consumes 677 g bread/week (1) . Recent investi-gations show downward trends in purchases of white bread, yet an increase in wholegrain and ethnic breads (1) . This factor has resulted in the development of baked products incorporating less-utilised and more-nutritious grains. Teff (Eragrostis tef) is a small-grained cereal originating in Ethiopia and is favoured for its nutritional profile (2) . When compared with other grains, such wheat, barley and sorghum, teff is a rich source of fibre, protein, Fe, Ca and Zn (2–4) . Teff is particularly abundant in Fe; £150 mg Fe/100 g is present in teff seeds (5) . Furthermore, the fermentation process used during bread making promotes phytate break-down, further increasing the bioavailability of Fe (6) . In the UK the average adult female consumes 8.8 mg Fe/d; notably lower than the reference nutrient intake of 14.8 mg/d (7,8) . Although, anaemia is not a major public health problem in the UK, 9 % of women of reproductive age have Hb levels < 120 g/l; the diagnostic criteria for clinical anaemia (9) . In contrast, in Ethiopia the prevalence of Fe-deficiency anaemia is lower, which is attributed to regular teff con-sumption (10) . The aims of the present study were therefore to incorporate teff grain into bread, to determine the Fe content, texture qualities, sensory attributes and cost of teff breads and to compare them with control wheat bread. Teff flour was incorporated into breads at the levels of 10, 20 and 30 % (w/w). Fe content of the teff and wheat flours and all breads was determined using the dipyridyl method (11)