Cereal Chem 53:413 - 419.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Uncooked Grain Corn as a Source of Iron from Normal and Anemic Rats.

J. Miller. Copyright 1976 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Hemoglobin and packed-cell volume were normal in rats fed for six weeks from weaning with four types of uncooked grain corn supplemented to provide adequate levels of all known nutrients. Iron content of the livers and spleens of the rats reflected the concentration of iron in the samples of corn. Corn was also evaluated as a source of iron for restoring hematological parameters in anemic rats. Relative biological value of iron in the grain was about half that of the ferrous sulfate used in the control diets. Hemoglobin and packed-cell volume were highest in rats fed waxy corn, lowest in those fed normal corn, and intermediate in animals given diets containing high-lysine and amylose corn. These differences may be related to iron content of the corn samples.