Cereal Chem 65:20-23   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Content and Stability of Ferrous Iron in Soybean Hulls.

J. A. Laszlo. Copyright 1988 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Soybean hulls are a rich source of highly bioavailable dietary iron. The chemical properties of iron in soybean hulls were examined to identify characteristics that would explain the availability of iron from this cource. Ferric and ferrous ions were extracted from the hull with 2N HCl and quantitated by ion chromatography. It was found that most of the iron was in the ferrous state; the proportion varied with soybean variety and crop year. The Fe(II) was stable to chemical oxidants, yet readily solubilized by acidic conditions comparable to those found in the human gastrointestinal tract. These studies suggest that the high bioavailability of soybean hull iron is the result of the presence of stable Fe(II) in this tissue.