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Women with low iron stores absorb iron from soybeans^1,2,3,4

¹ From the Department of Nutrition, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park (LEM-K and JLB); the US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, US Plant, Soil, and Nutrition Laboratory, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (RW); and the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, CA (ECT).

Background: Worldwide, 30% of the population, a greater proportion of whom are women and children, is iron deficient. Soybeans are a major source of nonheme iron in many human diets, but information on iron bioavailability is still conflicting. Because much of soybean iron is in ferritin [distinct from the poorly bioavailable iron in cereals resulting from interactions between calcium, Fe(III), phytate, and proteins in the meal], soybeans provide a target for manipulating seed iron composition to achieve increased iron bioavailability.

Objective: The aim was to reevaluate soybean iron bioavailability.

Design: Eighteen women, most with marginal iron deficiency, consumed meals with intrinsically labeled (⁵⁵Fe) soybeans (hydroponically grown and nonnodulating) as soup (n = 11) or muffins (n = 7) and a reference dose of ⁵⁹Fe as ferrous sulfate in ascorbate solution. The radioactivity in red cells was measured 14 and 28 d later.

Results: The mean ⁵⁵Fe absorption from either soup or muffins was 27% and that from the reference dose was 61%. ⁵⁵Fe was distributed approximately equally between protein (49.3 ± 3.0%) and phytate, a contrast with nodulating soybeans likely caused by a high phosphate content in the growth medium. There was an expected inverse correlation (r = -0.793, P < 0.001) between red cell radioactivity and serum ferritin concentration.

Conclusions: These results show that soybeans appear to be a good source of nutritional iron in marginally iron-deficient individuals. More study is needed on the effect of plant nodulation on the form of soybean iron, aimed at enhancing bioavailability to combat iron deficiency in at-risk populations.

Key Words: Soybean iron • bioavailability • iron status • iron absorption • ferritin • women

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