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Pectin with Low Molecular Weight and High Degree of Esterification Increases Absorption of ⁵⁸Fe in Growing Rats^1,2,

Department of Nutrition ^* Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003

Effects of pectins with different degrees of esterification (DE) and molecular weights (MW) on iron bioavailability were investigated in healthy growing rats by following erythrocyte incorporation of a dose of ⁵⁸Fe. Rats were fed a control diet for 8 d and then deprived of food for 16 h. Two hours after the start of feeding iron-deficient diets, with or without pectin (80 g/kg diet), a dose of FeSO₄ rich in ⁵⁸Fe (60.28%) was intubated into the stomach; rats were then allowed to feed for an additional 4 h before withdrawal of food for 10 h. Rats were then fed iron-adequate diets for 9 d. The pectins differed in DE and MW, respectively, as follows: P-A (73%, 860,000), P-B (75%, 89,000), P-C (22%, 1,260,000) and P-D (24%, 114,000). Rats fed pectin-free diet with free access to food or restricted to the same quantity consumed by a respective pectin group served as controls. Iron absorption was 48% in the control group and 57% in rats fed P-B. Rats fed P-B had higher (P 0.05) serum iron, transferrin saturation, hematocrit and liver and spleen iron than the control group or the group fed P-C. These indices, except for transferrin saturation, were also higher in rats fed P-A and P-D compared with those fed P-C and controls, but to a lesser extent than in rats fed P-B. The data indicate that bioavailability of dietary non-heme iron was enhanced when pectin of low MW and high DE was added to the diet. This improvement was not evident with pectins having high MW and/or low DE.

KEY WORDS: • pectin • ⁵⁸Fe • iron absorption • ferrous • fiber • rats

¹ Supported in part by the Agriculture Experiment Station of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

² The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 USC section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

³ Current address: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Hallym University, Okchon-dong, Chunchon, Kangwon-dong, 200–702, Korea.

⁴ To whom correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed.

Manuscript received 4 October 1995. Revision accepted 1 April 1996.