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Proteolytic Digestion of Meat Is Not Necessary for Iron Solubilization^{1 ,2}

Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-8700

The effects of digested cooked or raw meat and nondigested cooked or raw meat on iron solubility were investigated in vitro. Experiment 1 involved adding iron to meat slurries followed by in vitro digestion using pepsin and then pancreatin. Pepsin and pancreatin were excluded from incubation mixtures used as the nondigested treatment. Ferric iron in aqueous solution was used as an iron-only control. Dialyzable iron for each treatment was determined by measuring iron able to cross a dialysis membrane having a molecular weight cut-off of 6,000–8,000. Soluble iron was determined as that iron remaining in solution after centrifugation at 2,500 x g for 15 min. No differences (P > 0.05) in dialyzable iron were observed between treatments. However, soluble iron in the digested meat treatments was greater than soluble iron in the nondigested treatments (P = 0.05) or iron-only controls (P = 0.01). There was no difference (P > 0.05) between nondigested and iron-only treatments. In experiment 2, meat components were first separated by dialysis from digested or nondigested meat. The pH of the isolated components was adjusted to 2.0, iron added, and the pH adjusted to 7.0. Dialyzable and soluble iron were then determined. As in experiment 1, no differences (P > 0.05) in dialyzable iron among treatments were observed. Dialyzable components from digested or nondigested meat increased soluble iron as compared to the iron-only control (P = 0.01), with soluble iron values for the nondigested treatment being greater (P = 0.01) than for the digested treatment. Thus, meat contains a factor(s) that solubilizes iron independent of proteolytic digestion.

KEY WORDS: • iron • iron solubility • meat • in vitro digestion

¹ Supported in part by the College of Family Life Mineral Lease fund.

² Journal Paper No. 3645 of the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station.

Manuscript received 27 December 1988. Revision accepted 11 May 1989.