American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 7, 203-205, Copyright © 1959 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Reduction of Ferric Iron to the Ferrous Form During Digestion in Vitro With Saliva

¹ From the New York State College of Home Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Saliva collected in both morning and afternoon from four women was incubated with ferric chloride alone and also with ferric chloride and unenriched bread. More iron was reduced by the salivas collected in the morning than by those collected in the afternoon. With ferric chloride alone the reduction was usually less than 5 per cent. The levels of reduction were characteristic of the individual. When bread was added, reductions with the morning salivas ranged from 22.3 to 46.9 per cent and with afternoon salivas from 16.7 to 28.9 per cent.