Oxidative stability of a heme iron-fortified bakery product: Effectiveness of ascorbyl palmitate and co-spray-drying of heme iron with calcium caseinate

Abstract

Fortification of food products with iron is a common strategy to prevent or overcome iron deficiency. However, any iron form is a pro-oxidant and its addition will cause off-flavours and reduce product's shelf life. A highly bioavailable heme iron ingredient was selected to fortify a chocolate cream used to fill sandwich-type cookies. Two different strategies were assessed for avoiding the heme iron catalytic effect on lipid oxidation: ascorbyl palmitate addition and co-spray-drying of heme iron with calcium caseinate. Oxidation development and sensory acceptability were monitored in the cookies over one-year of storage at room temperature in the dark. The addition of ascorbyl palmitate protected from oxidation and from tocopherols and tocotrienols loss during cookies preparation. In general, ascorbyl palmitate, either alone or in combination with the co-spray-dried heme iron, prevented primary oxidation and hexanal formation during storage. The combination of both strategies resulted in cookies that were sensory acceptable after 1 year of storage.