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Physiological Availability of Thiamine from Brown Rice¹

Two Figures

Department of Home Economics Research, University of Idaho, Moscow

Human subjects excreted less thiamine when potatoes furnished approximately one-third of the dietary thiamine than when the same amount was furnished by brown rice, lamb, lamb and potatoes together or pure thiamine. To determine whether the lower excretion of thiamine during the potato test-periods was due to low availability of the thiamine in potatoes or to increased utilization of the vitamin in the tissues, pig feeding studies were carried out followed by thiamine assays of the animal tissues.

Two groups of weanling pigs were fed diets in which either potatoes or brown rice replaced a portion of the grain in the control diet so that the test food supplied approximately one-half of the total thiamine intake. Thiamine assays of ham, loin and shoulder cuts indicated that the pigs fed potatoes had a higher concentration of thiamine in the muscle tissues than did the pigs fed the rice diet. Thiamine concentration in the heart, liver and kidney did not vary with the type of diet eaten.

The decrease in urinary excretion and the increase in tissue storage of thiamine when potatoes were the important source of this vitamin in the diet suggest that unidentified factors associated with the source of dietary thiamine may influence the utilization and deposition of thiamine in the tissues. This study indicates that there is need for further investigation of the physiological availability of nutrients from different food sources and from different food combinations.

² Present address: 809 East 8th Street, Moscow, Idaho.

³ Present address: 1416 North 13th Street, Boise, Idaho.

Manuscript received 12 September 1955.