Effect on Crystallinity of Rice After Iron Fortification

Background: Iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) is the most common nutritional disorder observed in India particularly in under-five- year-old children, adolescent girls and pregnant women. Objective: The present study pioneered an investigation, into one of the varieties of paddy (IR-64) and their fortification with sodium iron EDTA salt, its physical properties, cooking characteristics, color, texture and characterization studies. Methods: Fortification was done at two concentrations 1.88g/kg and 3.39g/kg (250 & 450 mg/kg corresponding iron content), it was found that the iron content increased three to four-fold after fortification when compared to their corresponding controls. Results: The results revealed that, there was significant difference in the physical properties of rice in the control, fortified brown and milled rice. Cooking characteristics revealed, that water uptake and volume expansion were higher for fortified milled rice as compared to brown rice. The texture of fortified brown rice was hard as compared to fortified milled rice, although the taste was found satisfactory. The colour was significantly different in brown and milled rice. Conclusion: X-ray diffraction results revealed the polycrystalline nature of the fortified sample, was somewhat less crystalline as compared to control sample.