Bioavailability of Vitamin D3 from a Fortified Cereal Based Snack: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Background and Objective: There is a widespread prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among Indian children and adolescents. Fortification of commonly available cereals with vitamin D₃ could be a viable strategy to improve their vitamin D status. This study was undertaken to address the issue of vitamin D deficiency among adolescents by investigating the bioavailability of vitamin D₃ from a cereal legume snack (laddoo) fortified with vitamin D₃ versus the commercially available cholecalciferol supplement. Materials and Methods: Two groups of six adolescents aged 16-17 years. with low serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D were randomly divided. Subjects in the test group were given the fortified laddoo (1000 IU vitamin D₃) while those in the reference group were given commercially available vitamin D₃ (1000 IU) supplement. Serum calcium was measured at 0 h and serum 25-(OH)D was measured at 0, 6 and 24 h intervals. Results: The serum 25(OH)D levels raised from 12.28±3.86 to 13.78±4.54 and to 14.71±3.66 ng mL^–1 in the test group and 12.91±4.78 to 13.78±4.54 and to 14.53±4.61 ng mL^–1 in the reference group at 0, 6 and 24 h intervals respectively. No significant differences (t = -0.252, p>0.05 at 0 h, t = 0.084, p>0.05 at 6 h, t = 0.075, p>0.05 at 24 h) were observed in the increase of serum 25(OH)D concentrations in between both the groups. Conclusion: Hence fortified cereal legume snack (laddoo) could be novel tool in improving the vitamin D status of adolescents.