Iron Bioavailability of Rats Fed Liver, Lentil, Spinach and their Mixtures

Abstract

To study the effects of dietary iron source (basal diet-FeSO4 x 7H2O, liver, lentil, spinach, liver + lentil, liver+spinach and lentil+spinach) on iron bioavailability, fifty-six Albino Sprague Dawley derived male 21 days old rats were fed on iron-deficient diet (7.8 mg Fe kg(-1) diet) and the mentioned seven iron containing diets (40 mg Fe kg(-1) diet) for 10 days. Rats fed liver diet showed higher iron apparent absorption (52.1%), hemoglobin (Hb) gain (0.94 g/100 mL), Hb-iron gain (1.2 mg), Hb-regeneration efficiency (HRE%) (50.8%), relative efficiency of HRE% (106.5%), packed cell volume gain (2.22%) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (0.64 g dL(-1)). Liver resulted in an increase in these parameters when mixed with lentil and spinach diets. However, rats fed iron free diet showed the higher dry matter absorption.

Investigation into the Physicochemical and Textural Properties of an Iron-Rich 3D-Printed Hybrid Food

“…In the context of a complex hybrid food, it is difficult at this stage to predict the bioavailability of iron in our products without further in vivo or in vitro studies. Rewashdeh et al [ 34 ] studied the effects of dietary iron sources such as liver, lentils and liver plus lentil mixtures on iron bioavailability and concluded that liver-based diets can improve the bioavailability of plant-based iron, particularly when combined with lentils. Similarly, a recent study showed that some lentil proteins have the ability to bind to iron, which would decrease the free form of iron (Fe (II) and Fe (III)) prior to absorption and thus increase its bioavailability [ 35 ].…”