Iron and zinc bioaccessibility of fermented maize, sorghum and millets from five locations in Zimbabwe

Abstract The present study is an evaluation of iron and zinc bioaccessibility of fermented maize, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet from five different locations in Zimbabwe. Iron and zinc contents ranged between 3.22 and 49.7 and 1.25–4.39 mg/100 g dm, respectively. Fermentation caused a reduction of between 20 and 88% of phytic acid (PA) while a general increase in soluble phenolic compounds (PC) and a decrease of the bound (PC) was observed. Bioaccessibility of iron and zinc ranged between 2.77 and 26.1% and 0.45–12.8%, respectively. The contribution of the fermented cereals towards iron and zinc absolute requirements ranged between 25 and 411% and 0.5–23% with higher contribution of iron coming from cereals that were contaminated with extrinsic iron. Populations subsisting on cereals could be more at risk of zinc rather than iron deficiency.