A randomized controlled trial of sweet basil leaf powder‐enriched cookies for anemia management in adolescent girls

The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of sweet basil leaf powder as a natural source of iron for the treatment of anemia in adolescent girls. Purposive sampling technique of two‐stage sampling; part of the nonprobability sampling approach. Out of 2400 approached adolescent girls, 1645 agreed to participate and their nutritional status was assessed. Of these, 89.95% had clinical signs and symptoms of anemia, and 59.79% were found to be anemic based on Hb levels. From the anemic group, 65.18% were randomly selected to receive either B 0 (Control), B1 (12.699 g FeSO 4 .7H 2 O/100 g), and B3 (16 g SBLP/100 g) cookies for 4 months. At the end of the intervention, the assessment of nutritional status, complete blood count, serum iron, serum ferritin, serum total iron‐binding capacity (TIBC), and transferrin saturation was explored. Hematological parameters such as Hb, Hct, TIBC, MCV, MCH, MCHC, serum iron, and serum ferritin were significant ( p ≤ .05). The result showed that the serum Fe was highest in group B 3 while a significant decline was noted for group B 0 . Serum ferritin for B 1 was better than B 3 . The entire treatment for transferrin saturation showed a highly significant increasing trend in B 3 and B 1 , regardless of the control. TIBC levels raised in the control group while in all other treatments, it declined. The study demonstrated that SBLP‐fortified cookies can be an effective treatment option for anemia, as evidenced by significant improvements in key hematological parameters.