Analysis of iron content in selected vegetarian food items in Pokhara
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| Analysis of iron content |
Analysis of iron content of 10 vegetarian food samples belonging to three different food (spices, lentils and locally available vegetables) categories was the objective of this study. UV-Vis spectrophotometry was used to estimate and evaluate the levels of iron in the studied vegetables, lentils and spices. Vegetarians are more vulnerable to the deficiency of iron as they consume non-heme iron which needs to be altered before it can be absorbed by the body. While, non-vegetarians are rarely a victim of iron deficiency as their diet consists of meat through which they consume proteins like hemoglobin and myoglobin directly in the unaltered form. Inevitably, there is a need to measure the amount of iron in the vegetarian food products to determine which food sources are rich in iron, so that they may be consumed during iron deficiency. Spectrophotometric technique of analysis was used to determine the iron content. It works on principle of the Beer-Lambert law. From the results thus obtained, the maximum contribution was shown by spices and condiments towards the dietary iron content whereas the minimum contribution was shown by vegetables and lentils.
