Nutritional Analysis of Wheat Flour at Hyderabad for Detection of Essential and Toxic Metals

Wheat flour is basic diet in Asian countries. Quality of wheat flour and milling process has been changing day by day which have profound impact on nutrition value of wheat flour. Objective: To carry out Nutritional assessment of whole and refined wheat flour grinded locally at 13 mills of Hyderabad to determine presence of essential and toxic metals. Methods: Whole and refined wheat flour were randomly collected from 13 flour mills of Hyderabad for determination of moisture, ash, fat, fiber, carbohydrates, proteins, essential (Fe, Zn and Mn) and Toxic (Cd, Cr, Pb and Cu) metals with standard scientific methods. Results: High moisture has been recorded in F.M.13 mill in whole and refined flour as 12.5% and 11.8% respectively where as low moisture 7.1% has been found in whole flour in F.M.10 mill and 7.4% in refined flour in F.M.01 mill. F.M.04 contains high Iron in whole and refined wheat flour as 0.91±1.1 and 0.74±0.5mg/kg respectively. Zinc content has been high in F.M.10 and F.M.11 as 9.95±5.6mg/kg and 8.66±5.1mg/kg respectively. Cadmium has been high in F.M.09 as 0.06±0.01mg/kg in refined flour whereas Lead has been high in F.M.09 as 0.28±0.13mg/kg in whole wheat flour. Conclusions: Carbohydrates have been high whereas fiber and protein has been low in refined flour. Fe, Zn and Mn has been significantly low whereas Cd, Pb, Cr and Cu has been significantly high in refined wheat flour. It is concluded that consumption of whole wheat flour is better than refined wheat flour.