Scientists have developed an open-access Indian Nutrient Databank that contains information on nutrient composition of individual food items as well as information on commonly consumed recipes. Their study, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is published in the journal Current Developments in Nutrition . Development of an Indian Food Composition Database.
Image Credit: Nakhshkarian Narine / Shutterstock Food composition databases are vital in diet assessment, allowing users to estimate their daily nutrient intake. This is important for monitoring any deviation in population-level or individual-level nutrient intake from the recommended intakes and dietary guidelines. Therefore, a comprehensive, context-specific food composition database is vital for advanced nutritional research and policy making.
The Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) has estimated the nutrient composition of hundreds of raw food items and included them in the Indian Food Composition Table (IFCT), available from 2017. The IFCT contains the nutrient values of eight micronutrients and 528 raw food items, which collectively contribute to 75% of energy, fat, and protein intakes at the population level. In this study, scientists have developed an open-assess Indian Nutrient Databank (INDB) that includes both raw food items and standard Indian recipes.
The INDB was developed in two stages. A nutrient composition database of raw food items was first developed f.
