Discussion
TIA, weakness
IRON DEFICIENCY, TIA
The main finding of this study is that although FIA of the biofortified clone was on average 37% lower than that of the regular variety, because of its higher iron content, 45.8% more total iron was absorbed from the biofortified variety than from the nonbiofortified variety for the same weight of potatoes.The higher FIA in the nonbiofortified variety could be attributed to its lower phytic acid level compared to the iron-biofortified clone (3.1 and 39.34 mg/100 g, respectively) (FIA obtained for the variety Peruanita in the present study (16%) is significantly lower than that reported for the same variety in a previous study conducted by our team (28%) [First, the mean PF in the participants from the present study (20 μg/L) is twice that of the participants in the Jongstra et al. study reported in 2020 (10 μg/L) [In view of the marked influence of iron status on absorption, previous studies have used normalized FIA values for correcting absorption values to a common reference point [Second, ascorbic acid concentrations in the meals given in the present study were lower than in meals given by Jongstra et al. [Third, the level of the most abundant polyphenol (chlorogenic acid) in Peruanita tubers in our study (22.51 mg/100 g, fresh weight) was significantly higher compared with the levels in Peruanita tubers used by Jongstra et al. [The FIA of both the commercial variety Peruanita and the biofortified potato clone was above the expected 5% to 10% for plant-based diets [TIA from the iron-biofortified potato clone was higher than the commercial variety (0.38 vs 0.26 mg per 500 g potato meal, respectively). TIA from the iron-biofortified potato was similar to TIA from the iron-biofortified bean meal (0.41 mg) evaluated in Petry et al. [In the rural areas of the highlands of Peru and Latin America, women consume meals containing only potatoes and have a mean potato consumption >500 g per day [The strength of this study is that we used well-established stable isotope techniques and gave multiple meals, which reduces day-to-day variability in iron absorption, to accurately measure iron absorption and assess iron bioavailability from the 2 varieties of potato. The results obtained in this study are a prerequisite for further research on biofortified potatoes, in particular efficacy trials investigating changes in iron status with long-term intake of iron-biofortified potatoes. A weakness is that the findings are restricted to communities where the potato is a major component of the diet, namely, in rural areas of Latin-American highlands. Iron absorption in meals that combine potatoes with other foods such as beans, as in African rural areas, might produce different findings depending on the concentration of iron promoters and inhibitors in the diet.In conclusion, FIA from both the iron-biofortified and nonbiofortified potato meals were above the expected values of 5% to 10% for plant-based diets. The absorbed iron from the iron-biofortified potato meal was higher than that from the nonbiofortified potato meal. In areas of the Peruvian highlands where potato consumption is high (500 g), iron-biofortified potatoes would provide 27% of the daily requirement for absorbed iron in women with moderate iron stores and above 50% in women with low stores. Iron-biofortified yellow-fleshed potatoes provide a significant amount of absorbable iron and can contribute to reduce iron deficiency in rural areas of the Latin-American highlands where potato consumption is high and iron deficiency is prevalent.