Factors affecting the absorption of iron from cereals
Open accessAbstract
1. Non-haem-iron absorption from a variety of cereal and fibre meals was measured in parous Indian women, using the erythrocyte utilization of radioactive Fe method. 2. The present study was undertaken to establish whether alteration of the phytate and polyphenol contents of sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) affected Fe absorption from sorghum meals, and to assess the influence of fibre on Fe absorption. 3. Removing the outer layers of sorghum grain by pearling reduced the polyphenol and phytate contents by 96 and 92% respectively. This treatment significantly increased the geometric mean Fe absorption from 0.017 to 0.035 (t 3.9, p < 0.005). 4. The geometric mean Fe absorption from a sorghum cultivar that lacked polyphenols (albino sorghum) was 0.043, which was significantly greater than the 0.019 absorbed from bird-proof sorghum, a cultivar with a high polyphenol content (t 2.83, p < 0.05). 5. Fe was less well absorbed from the phytate-rich pearlings of the albino sorghum than from the pearled albino sorghum (0.015 v. 0.035 (t 8.4, P < 0.0005)). Addition of sodium phytate to a highly Fe-bioavailable broccoli (Brassica oleracea) meal reduced Fe absorption from 0.185 to 0.037. 6. The geometric mean Fe absorption from malted sorghum porridge was 0.024 when 9.5 mg ascorbic acid were added and 0.094 when the ascorbic acid was increased to 50 mg (t 3.33, P < 0.005). This enhancing effect of 50 mg ascorbic acid was significantly depressed to 0.04 by tea (t 38.1, P < 0.0005). 7. Wheat bran significantly decreased the geometric mean Fe absorption from white flour from 0.116 to 0.043 (t 7.2, P < 0.0005). 8. Some of the constituents of the dietary fibre complex, such as apple pectin, guar gum, gum tragacanth and microcrystalline cellulose did not inhibit Fe absorption. On the other hand, hemicellulose and lignin decreased absorption. The geometric mean absorption of Fe given with hemicellulose was 0.079 v. 0.269 with microcrystalline cellulose (t 2.95, P < 0.05). Addition of cocoa, which contains approximately 280 g lignin/kg, reduced the geometric mean Fe absorption from milk from 0.075 to 0.035 (t 2.7, P < 0.05).
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Red wine and cocoa, as well as various vegetables with a high polyphenol content, have been reported to inhibit Fe absorption.
“Other beverages such as red wine (Bezwoda et al. 1985;Cook et al. 1995) and cocoa (Gillooly et al. 1984), as well as various vegetables with a high polyphenol content (Gillooly et al. 1983;Tuntawiroon et al. 1991), have also been reported to inhibit Fe absorption.”
From Inhibition of non-haem iron absorption in man by polyphenolic-containing beverages (1999) · cites this paper as Gillooly et al. 1984
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Fardet, A. (2010) · Nutrition Research Reviews · doi:10.1017/s0954422410000041 · Cited by 1,030 · see citing works
Inhibition of non-haem iron absorption in man by polyphenolic-containing beverages
Hurrell, R. F., Reddy, M., & Cook, J. D. (1999) · British Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s0007114599000537 · Cited by 490 · see citing works
- Authors
- Gillooly, M., Bothwell, T. H., Charlton, R. W., Torrance, J. D., Bezwoda, W. R., MacPhail, A. P., Derman, D. P., Novelli, L., Morrall, P., & Mayet, F.
- Affiliations
- University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (ZA)
- University of KwaZulu-Natal (ZA)
- Venue
- British Journal of Nutrition
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 1984-01
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 37-46
- ISSN
- 0007-1145 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-2662
- OpenAlex
- W2050320286
- Cited by
- 157
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 7.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- British Journal Of Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Phytase and its Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Iron Metabolism and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Food composition and properties
- Keywords
- iron absorption, non-heme iron, cereals, sorghum, phytic acid, polyphenols, dietary fiber, pearling, broccoli, vitamin C, tea, wheat bran, apple pectin, guar gum, tragacanth gum, microcrystalline cellulose, iron bioavailability, women of reproductive age
- MeSH terms
- Ascorbic Acid, Edible Grain, Dietary Fiber, Female, Ferritins, Flavonoids, Hemoglobins, Humans, Intestinal Absorption, Iron, Phenols, Phytic Acid, Polymers, Species Specificity, Transferrin, Polyphenols
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