In vitro bioavailabilities of iron from Moringa oleifera leaves and other vegetables

Iron deficiency in the human body represents a great problem in the world today, and it is seemingly one of the biggest nutrient deficiency that developed and developing countries have in common, but its most serious and fatal effects are found in the developing countries. Animal sources of iron are not commonly available in these regions as vegetable sources of iron are. One way to solve the problem of iron deficiency is to increase the bioavailability of dietary iron from plant sources. One plant, a tree named Moringa oleifera, grows in dry areas and has showed to have high iron content in leaves, which can be consumed by humans. The objective of this work has therefore been to determine the nutrient content of Moringa oleifera leaves, and to have a better understanding of in vitro iron bioavailability of Moringa leaves when it is cooked alone and together with different beans. The beans used here are grain soybean, vegetable soybean and mungbean, which are all widely consumed in developing countries. To compare the quantitative iron bioavailability from the leaves cooked with beans, tomatoes have been selected as the other item and cooked with beans, because tomatoes are also consumed in big amounts in developing countries.Literature researches of iron deficiency, iron bioavailability, and about the beneficial Moringa oleifera tree have been included in this report.