Iron-fortified chickpea seeds and flour studied for iron delivery
What it found
Fortifying chickpea seeds and flour with iron raised their iron content and the amount of iron taken up in lab tests.
In taste tests with 40 people, the fortified foods scored lower than unfortified ones, though NaFeEDTA-fortified soup scored highest among the three fortificants.
What they found
Studies in people
Taste test scores
In taste tests with 40 people, fortified cooked split desi seeds scored significantly lower than unfortified controls for all five attributes. NaFeEDTA-fortified soup scored highest among the three fortificants. For desi and kabuli chapattis, fortified versions did not differ significantly from controls.
Animal and lab studies
Iron uptake in lab tests
In lab tests using Caco-2 cells, iron uptake increased by 5.8 to 10.5, 15.3 to 25.0 and 4.8 to 9.0 ng ferritin per mg protein for cooked split desi seeds (soup), desi chapatti and kabuli chapatti, respectively, when made from fortified chickpea. Desi chapatti showed significantly higher iron uptake than the other two.
Other findings
Iron content rose
At 2000 micrograms per gram of fortificant, fortified split desi seeds, desi flour and kabuli flour supplied 18 to 19 mg, 16 to 20 mg and 11 to 19 mg of iron per 100 g, respectively. Unfortified split desi seeds contained 43.8 micrograms per gram of iron.
Colour and rancidity
Lightness, redness and yellowness of fortified products changed over time and with fortificant concentration. After 6 and 12 months of storage, the oils from fortified and unfortified flours showed no hydroperoxide signal, meaning little to no rancidity under these lab storage conditions.
Serving size iron
A 50 g serving of fortified split desi seeds or desi chapatti could supply more than 10 mg of iron (9 to 10 mg and 8 to 10 mg from the fortified product, plus 2 mg from the base chickpea). Fortified kabuli products supplied 9 to 13 mg of iron per serving.
What the authors conclude
“This study demonstrates that it is possible to increase both Fe concentration and the amount of deliverable Fe in foods made from chickpea.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say this study shows it is possible to increase both iron concentration and the amount of deliverable iron in foods made from chickpea.
- They recommend that iron-fortified chickpea products be labelled "ready to cook" and "ready to eat".
- They call for large-scale human trials in iron-deficient populations to determine the efficacy of iron fortification of chickpea in mixed diets.
How it was done
Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutritional disorders, mainly due to insufficient intake of bioavailable iron. Chickpea is consumed daily in many developing countries where iron deficiency is severe, so the authors wanted to see if fortifying it could help.
They sprayed three iron fortificants (ferrous sulfate heptahydrate, ferrous sulfate monohydrate and NaFeEDTA) onto desi and kabuli chickpea seeds and flour at concentrations from 100 to 3200 micrograms per gram. They measured iron content, iron uptake in lab tests using Caco-2 cells, colour and rancidity over up to a year, and ran taste tests with 40 people from South Asian countries.
What it can’t tell you
- The iron uptake was measured in lab tests using Caco-2 cells, not in people, so it cannot show how much iron the body actually absorbs from these foods.
- The taste tests were done with 40 people from South Asian countries at one university, so the results may not apply to other groups.
- The rancidity tests were done under lab storage conditions, so they cannot show what happens under warm and humid conditions.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Ministry of Agriculture - Saskatchewan; U.S. Department of Agriculture (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- University of Saskatchewan, Canada; Cornell University, USA
The paper
- Title
- Iron Fortification and Bioavailability of Chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) Seeds and Flour
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Jahan TA, Vandenberg A, Glahn RP, Tyler RT, Reaney MJT, Tar'an B (2019). Iron Fortification and Bioavailability of Chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.) Seeds and Flour. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu11092240Free full textPubMed 31540391DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error