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Magnesium Absorption from Leafy Vegetables Intrinsically Labeled with the Stable Isotope ²⁶Mg¹

Division of Nutritional Sciences and Department of Physical Biology, Cornell University and U.S. Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory, USDA-SEA-AR, Ithaca, NY 14853

Five leafy vegetables were grown in nutrient solutions in which the natural magnesium was replaced by the stable isotope, ²⁶Mg. They were fed to rats in a test meal together with the extrinsic tracer ²⁸Mg: a) to determine to what extent the instrinsic tracer (²⁶Mg) was exchangeable with extrinsic ²⁸Mg during the digestion and absorption processes, and b) measure the relative Mg availability from the different vegetables. The two tracers, ²⁶Mg and ²⁸Mg, were close to 100% exchangeable, as judged by the ratio of ²⁶Mg/²⁸Mg in the livers. Mean relative Mg absorption from the various vegetables ranged from 108 to 118% of the Mg absorbed from a standard test meal containing MgSO₄. There were no statistically significant differences between the rates of Mg absorption from the five vegetables although two of the vegetables tested contained oxalate. The usefulness of stable ²⁶Mg as a tracer in Mg bioavailability tests is discussed.

KEY WORDS: • magnesium absorption • ²⁶Mg

¹ Supported in part by NIH Grant No. 18569 and USDA Cooperative Agreement #12-14-1001-814.

Manuscript received 4 December 1979.