In vitro bioaccessibility of added folic acid in commercially available baby foods formulated with milk and milk products

Milk contains a certain amount of folate binding proteins. The binding capacity varies in acidic conditions and affects the bioavailability of folic acid. Folic acid is commonly added into baby foods to ensure adequate intake of infants. The aim of this study was to determine the bioaccessibility of added folic acid in baby foods formulated with milk and milk products under different gastric pH values by an in vitro digestive system. The bioaccessibility of folic acid ranged between 56-71 and 35-49% in infant formula samples, between 59-78 and 31-67% in cereal-based baby foods, and between 42-67 and 38-57% in follow-on baby milk at gastric pH 1.5 and pH 4, respectively. Our results demonstrate that the bioaccesibility of folic acid that is added to baby food is affected by gastric pH. Therefore, it was observed that the bioaccesibility of folic acid was lower in the higher gastric pH.