Effect of Impeller Position and Baffle Width on Uniformity of Fe Concentration for Fortification of Baby Instant Porridge

Departement of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Diponegoro University, Prof. Soedarto, SH, Tembalang, Semarang, 50275, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: nora@undip.ac.id

Abstract

Iron deficiency (ID) is considered to be the most micro-nutritional problem, and the main cause of anaemia, called Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA). Nowadays, iron fortification is the most practical and priority solution for IDA alleviation. For toddler, iron fortification could be performed on complementary food of breast milk, such as instant porridge. Iron fortification was conducted using mixing and agitation method to prepare instant porridge from purple sweet potato flour. The aims of this work were to investigate the effect of impeller position and baffle width on the uniformity of iron concentration. Preparations of purple sweet potato flour and iron fortification were conducted using drying and mixing agitation method, respectively. Two independent variables, i.e. impeller position (1, 1.8, 2.6, 3.2 cm from the bottom of stirred tank) and baffle width (1.1, 1.4, 1.8, 2.3 cm), were used to investigate the uniformity of iron. Iron concentration was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The results depict that impeller position 1.8 cm from the bottom of the stirred tank and baffle width 1.1 cm provide a relatively good operating condition to obtain the high level of iron uniformity.