Fig. 2: Zinc absorption from maize-based test meals by Kenyan children aged 24-36 months.

A Fractional zinc absorption (FAZ) (%); (B): amount of zinc absorbed (AZ) (mg). Meals were composed of maize porridge with: (WC, red dots) 16.14 g intrinsically labeled (0.41 mg 67Zn) whole cricket flour (n = 28); (EC, brown dots) 15.54 g intrinsically labeled (0.33 mg 67Zn) low-chitin cricket flour and 0.51 mg unlabeled Zn (as ZnSO4) (n = 28); (HZ, green dots) 0.75 mg 68Zn and 2.34 mg unlabeled Zn (as ZnSO4) (n = 25); and (LZ, blue dots) 0.75 mg 68Zn (as ZnSO4) (n = 29), respectively. Horizontal lines represent the mean. We compared test meal effects (two-sided) by linear mixed model using ‘subjects’ as a random factor, ‘meals’, ‘block’ and ‘meal sequence within block’ as fixed factors, and ‘serum zinc (SZn)’ as a covariate, followed by post hoc tests with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. ZnSO4, zinc sulfate.