Influence of various ingredients on mineral bioaccessibility in infant formula and whole milk

The mineral composition and bioaccessible fraction of different types of infant formula and milk samples were evaluated. Mineral content was higher in the infant formula than in the milk samples by 162, 63, 37 and 2-fold for Fe, Cu, Mn and Zn, respectively. The mineral bioaccessibility in milk products was found to be influenced by both the total content and the type of processing (pasteurised, powdered or UHT). For milk-based formulas, the addition of a prebiotic generally improved the dialysability of K, Fe, Mg, Cu and Zn, whereas the enzymatically hydrolysed protein had no effect on the bioaccessibility of most of the elements. Infant formulas containing soy protein showed results for dialysability similar to those for formulas containing whey protein. In general, infant formula results indicated that the high mineral absorption could be related to the protein type, presence of prebiotics and mineral concentrations.