A lack of quality control tools limits the enforcement of fortification policies. In alignment with the World Health Organization's ASSURED criteria (affordable, sensitive, specific, user-friendly, rapid and robust, equipment-free, and deliverable), a paper-based assay that interfaces with a smartphone application for the quantification of iron fortificants is presented. The assay is based on the Ferrozine colorimetric method. The reaction started after deposition of the 5 µL aqueous sample and drying. After developing color, pixel intensity values were obtained using a smartphone camera and image processing software or a mobile application, Nu3px. From these values, the actual iron concentration from ferrous sulfate and ferrous fumarate was calculated. The limits of detection, quantification, linearity, range, and errors (systematic and random) were ascertained. The paper-based values from real samples (wheat flour, nixtamalized corn flour, and infant formula) were compared against atomic emission spectroscopy. The comparison of several concentrations of atomic iron between the spectrophotometric and paper-based assays showed a strong positive linear correlation (y = 47.01x + 126.18; = 0.9932). The dynamic range (5.0-100 µg/mL) and limit of detection (3.691 µg/mL) of the paper-based assay are relevant for fortified food matrices. Random and systematic errors were 15.9% and + 8.65 µg/g food, respectively. The concept can be applied to limited-resource settings to measure iron in fortified foods.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu11071673 | DOI Listing |
Plant Foods Hum Nutr
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Food Engineering Department, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, 400372, Romania.
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Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Food Technology, University of Agriculture in Krakow, al. Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Krakow, Poland.
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Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research and Department of Food Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
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Whole Grain Food Engineering Research Center, College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
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