Phytic acid level in infant flours

This study determined the phytic acid content in the infant flour commonly consumed in the Canary Islands. A total of 400 samples from different cereals was analyzed. The method proposed by Garcı́a-Villanova et al. (1982) [Garcı́a-Villanova, R., Garcı́a-Villanova, R. J., Ruiz de Lope, C. (1982). Determination of phytic acid by complexometric titration of excess of iron (III). Analyst 107, 1503–1506] was the one used for determination of the phytic acid content in cereal flours. Phytic acid concentrations are within the range <1–⩾36 mg/g. The arithmetic mean obtained from all the samples studied is 24.6 mg/g. Most of the samples studied show a phytic acid content higher than 20 mg/g, and much lower values are observed in gluten-free flours (< 5 mg/g). Significant differences are observed for the different flour types. Gluten-free flour has a content lower than the rest; 9-cereal flour has a phytate concentration lower than the other flours tested but higher than gluten-free flour. Among wheat samples, phytate values are lower than in the varieties muesli-chocolate, 7-cereal, 8-cereal, multicereal and cereal-biscuit. Multicereal flour has a lower content than muesli-chocolate.