Content and in vitro availability of iron in cooked fish commonly consumed Sri Lanka

Abstract

A study was carried out to investigate the iron content aid in vitro availability of iron in four fish species namely Sardinella melanura, Sardinella albella, Carnax spp. and Exocoetus volitans by using a modified in vitro iron availability method. Iron contents were quantified in cooked fish flesh, cooked fish bones, cooking water and subsequently the in vitro availability of iron in cooked fish flesh by using atomic absorption spectroscopy. In fish species, the weight of iron was calculated on a dry weight(DW) basis. In cooked S. melanura, S. albella, Carnax spp. and E. volitans, the iron content in the cooked fish flesh was 335.3 ± 6.8, 322.0 ± 6.0, 164.8 ± 9.3 and 199.1 ± 7.8 μg/g (DW), and in the bones 315.3 ± 6.3, 155.7 ± 10.2, 101.1 ± 8.2 and 191.9 ± 6.1 uμ/g(DW). The iron content released to cooking water from the fish was 25.0 ± 0.7, 41.6 ± 4.0, 15.0 ± 2.1 and 21.0 ± 2.4 μg/ml and the in vitro available iron content was 66.2 ± 4.5, 56.1 ± 5.5, 58.9 ± 4.4 and 72.6 ± 3.5 μg/g (the latter values are expressed as a percentage reads to be 20, 36, 28 and 23 %) respectively The results showed that though the fish species studied has a high total iron content, the in vitro available iron content was much lower than the total iron content.