Bioavailability of iron from wheat bran in pigs

Iron anemia was induced in pigs immediately after birth by feeding an iron depletion diet containing only 17 mg iron/kg feed. (The requirement for iron in this period is 50 mg iron/kg feed). When Hb concentrations were 5 g/100 ml the pigs were given iron repletion diets. One group received 7% bran in the diet, about 60% of the iron derived from the bran and 40% from ferrous sulfate. The other group received no bran and 80% of the iron from ferrous sulfate. There were no differences, either in the increase of Hb or in the increase of serum iron, in the two groups. In a second experiment, one group received all their iron from cereals, and an addition of 20% bran in the diet. The other group received no bran and 80% of the iron from ferrous sulfate. There was no significant difference in the bioavailability of the iron present in the diets. In our experiments bran seemed to have no inhibitory effect on iron absorption, even when 20% bran was included in the diet.