Efficacy of Iron Fortification to Augment the Nutritional Quality of Some Winter Season Leafy Vegetables

Iron is one of the most important micronutrients essential for human subsistence which is available in our diet through different vegetables (leafy vegetables, leguminous vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, cucurbits, potato, sweet potato, drumstick etc.) but especially the leafy vegetables. The different leafy vegetables are the reservoir of different vitamins and minerals that mostly include calcium, phosphorous and iron. Iron deficiency leads to anaemia is a threat throughout the world, more specifically found in women and children. Enrichment of iron content of these leafy vegetables can be achieved through iron fertilization which may play vital role to alleviate the problem of anaemia. Besides this, less bioavailability of non heme iron content (iron in plants) is also a big challenge. Considering these two factors, an experimental study was conducted in factorial randomized block design with three replications during the winter season of the year of 2018-19 at UBKV, Pundibari, Cooch Behar to evaluate the status of iron enrichment in ten (10) popular green leafy vegetables (Amaranthus, buck wheat leaves, coriander leaves, fenugreek leaves, garden pea leaves, Malva leaves, mustard leaves, onion leaves, palak leaves, radish leaves). Ferrous sulphate heptahydrate (FeSo4, 7H2O, 16% Fe) was applied as a source of iron fertilizer in three different modes (Soil, foliar and combination of soil and foliar) along with control. Application of iron fertilizer significantly increased the leaf iron content and it showed synergistic effect on other quality parameters like ascorbic acid content, vitamin A content, and total chlorophyll content of the leafy vegetables. Highest leaf iron content at first (22.43 mg/100 g), second (21.30 mg/100 g) and third (20.26 mg/100 g) harvesting was found in Amaranthus from the treatment of 100% of recommended dose (0.5 g/lit of water) of ferrous sulphate heptahydrate (FeSo4, 7H2O, 16% Fe) through foliar spray at 4 weeks after sowing (T2L1).Therefore, iron fortification of leafy vegetables through ferrous sulphate heptahydrate (FeSo4, 7H2O, 16% Fe) application might be a feasible alternative to mitigate the problem of iron deficiency anaemia as well as to meet the daily needs of iron through consumption of iron rich leafy vegetables.