Cereal Chem 56:156 - 158.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Bioavailability of Iron in High-Cellulose Bread.

G. S. Ranhotra, C. Lee, and J. A. Gelroth. Copyright 1979 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Two sources of cellulose (powered alpha-cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose) were tested for their effect on the bioavailability of iron in enriched bread by the hemoglobin repletion technique involving young rats. Breads were made (straight-dough procedure) with cellulose added at 10, 20, and 30% (flour basis) levels. The flour was enriched, using ferrous sulfate, to contain 13 mg of iron per pound. All diets contained 15 ppm of iron provided by test breads. Hemoglobin repletion was more rapid on the reference diet (sucrose-based and containing 15 ppm of iron as ferrous sulfate) than on the bread-based diets. However, bread-based diets, irrespective of the level of cellulose used in bread, showed no reduction in iron bioavailability when compared with the control (cellulose-free, bread-based) died.