Investigation of natural food fortificants for improving various properties of fortified foods: A review

Micronutrient malnutrition (MNM) is called “hidden hunger” due to its invisible vitamin-minerals deficiency symptoms in an individual. In most cases, the prime victim of MNM is children and women. Different strategies such as dietary diversification, supplementation, biofortification, and food fortification are used to fight MNM; however, each method has its own merits and demerits. Therefore, this review discusses an alternate approach, “food-to-food fortification (FtFF),” for combating MNM through enriching the daily diet with essential micronutrients. The main principle behind FtFF is the addition of one or more micronutrient-dense food/s in commonly consumable products. The review highlighted potential natural fortificants rich in iron, folate, zinc, protein, β-carotene, calcium, potassium, and fiber previously used under FtFF. These fortificants are basil, moringa, marjoram, thyme, mint, garden cress, amaranth, fenugreek, and defatted coconut flour. Their effect on nutritional and other properties like antioxidants and antimicrobial, after consuming fortified food, are discussed in detail. At higher substitution levels, a significant impact on sensory and physiochemical properties was observed. Therefore, suitable formulation strategies like mixture design and linear programming were advised to be used before FtFF. A tabulated data on micro-and macronutrients content of fortificants are described for ease in formulation. The review also focused on the latest processing technology in FtFF used for fortifying foods like biscuits, pasta, bread, snack, flakes, porridge, ladoo, dhokla, and many more.