In my previous job, I used to grow rice plants hydrophonically (in nutrient solution and not in soil) - wherein we had to prepare water solutions of the various macro and micronutrients necessary for plant growth, mix them in appropriate ratios (depending if we would like the plants to grow healthfully or deficient in a particular nutrient) in buckets where we allow the plants to grow.

Whatever ratio we mixed the nutrients in, the form of iron used have always been critical. Ferric Chloride (FeCl3) just precipitates out of the solution when the pH becomes alkaline - making iron unavailable for plant absorption, turning the plants chlorotic or anaemic. But once we use the sodium salt-edta-chelate form, iron dissolves better in the solution, doesn't easily precipitate out and thus gets more absorbed by the plants.

Funny I bumped into this article today (making me remember my previous work) which states that Sodium Iron EDTA (NaFeEDTA; C10H12FeN2NaO8) or Iron-EDTA-Sodium-Salt (as we used to call it in the lab) was found to be much more effective than electrolytic iron in boosting iron levels in the blood of anaemic patients.

The study published in this week's issue of The Lancet (entitled: Fortification of cereals could boost iron concentrations among children in less-developed countries) was conducted by Pauline Andang'o, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Centre for Public Health Research, Nairobi, Kenya and Netherlands-based colleagues, who studied 516 children aged three to eight years from four schools in Marafa, Kenya, some 10% of whom were suffering from anaemia.

The researchers found that, compared to the placebo group, the prevalence of iron-deficiency anaemia dropped by 89% for the high-dose NaFeEDTA group, and by 48% for the low-dose NaFeEDTA group, but there was no evidence for any reduction in the electrolytic iron group.

High-dose NaFeEDTA fortified flour also improved three major iron status indicators in the children taking flour fortified with it - haemoglobin and plasma ferritin concentrations, and amounts of plasma soluble transferrin receptor. Low-dose NaFeEDTA also improved these iron status indicators but to a lesser extent. Electrolytic iron had little effect on these indicators.

I guess NaFeEDTA can be more absorbed by the human body in the same way that it is more absorbed by the rice plants we used to grow.

Erm, medical researchers should learn more from plant physiologists/nutritionists!

Currently, the electrolytic form of iron is the frequently used iron supplement in flours; maybe in the future they'll use NaFeEDTA instead in fortification of food products.