Prospects for Increasing the Vitamin Value of Food Concentrates: Bouillon Cubes

Abstract

Introduction. The lack of micronutrients in the diet of the Russian population continues to arouse the interest of the scientific community in the development of fortified foods. The range of enriched products on the domestic market remains quite poor. Bouillon cubes are popular in home cooking and catering. The data of the scientific and technical literature indicate an almost complete absence of micronutrients, e.g. vitamins, minerals, and trace elements, in bouillon cubes, with the exception of iodine when the formulation included iodized salt. There have also been successful attempts to fortify bouillon cubes with iron. Taking into consideration the high level of vitamin B deficiency in Russian population, the research objective was to assess the possibility of fortification of dry food concentrates to obtain bouillons rich in vitamins and iron. Study objects and methods. The research featured dry food concentrate “Dry bouillon with chicken flavor” and the vitamin and mineral premix “Kolos Forte” containing five B vitamins and iron in the form of sulfate. The content of vitamin B1 was determined fluorometrically by thiochrome method, and vitamin B2 was determined by fluorometric titration with riboflavin-binding protein. Results and discussion. The premix was selected based on a thorough analysis and systematization of the material on the research topic. The addition of a vitamin-mineral premix to the food concentrate did not affect the sensory properties of both dry concentrate and reconstituted bouillon. The added vitamins proved highly stable, amounting to 95–100%. The vitamin-mineral premix containing B vitamins and iron made it possible to increase the content of these micronutrients in a 200 mL bouillon portion to 19–30% of the recommended daily intake. Conclusion. The diet of different population groups still remains poor in micronutrients, which makes food fortification an urgent task. The present article offers a comparative analysis of the nutritional value of chicken broths and those obtained from cubes fortified with vitamin and mineral premix. The vitamin value of one portion of reconstituted broth fortified with a vitamin and mineral premix which contained 19–30% of the recommended daily intake of vitamins and iron proved 2–5 times higher than that of actual meat broths. The research resulted in a new formulation for bouillon cubes with a vitamin-mineral premix containing five B vitamins and iron. The increased micronutrient value of the developed fortified product made it possible to recommend it as an additional source of vitamins and iron.