Milk fortification with a complex of iron with ascorbic acid for control of iron deficiency anemia

Abstract

The aim of this work was the fortification of milk with a bioavailable complex of iron with ascorbic acid and in vivo evaluation of its effect on the hematological parameters of laboratory rats. To do this, we produced sterilized milk with iron and ascorbic acid supplementations. Fortification of milk increased the iron content to 1.0 mg/100 mL and ascorbic acid to 3.0 mg/100 mL, which meets the requirements for iron and ascorbic acid levels in children’s nutrition. An in vivo experiment was performed on 42 male rats of the Wistar line with an initial body weight of 120–240 g. As a result of the study, it was found that administration of milk fortified with iron and ascorbic acid to rats with severe anemia against the background of an iron-deficient diet at a dose of 1.7 mL per 100 g of body weight for 20 days helps to prevent the development of the condition of IDA in animals. The results of the study show the great prospects of using milk fortified with iron and ascorbic acid for the prevention of iron deficiency anemia.