A preliminary study of the bioavailability of iron- and zinc-glycine chelates

Susan J. Fairweather-Tait, Thomas E. Fox, S. Gabrielle Wharf, Nawalyah A. Ghani

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12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Groups of rats were fed diets containing marginal levels of Fe and Zn as glycine chelates (tradename 'Chelazome', Albion Laboratories, Verona, New Jersey, USA), or the same level of mineral as ferrous sulphate or zinc carbonate. The Fe diets were fed to weanling rats for 4 weeks and the Zn diets to young adult rats for 5 weeks. Blood Hb concentrations were significantly higher in the group fed Fe-chelazome than ferrous sulphate, 149 and 128 g/l respectively (P less than 0.001), but PCV and liver Fe concentrations were similar between the two groups. No difference in plasma Zn, pancreas, testes or femur Zn concentrations were observed between the two Zn groups, indicating that Zn-chelazome has no advantage over zinc carbonate. The results of this preliminary study indicate that Fe-chelazome has a higher bioavailability than ferrous sulphate and merits further study.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)97-101
Number of pages5
JournalFood Additives and Contaminants
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1992

Keywords

  • Animals
  • Biological Availability
  • Carbonates
  • Chelating Agents
  • Delayed-Action Preparations
  • Ferrous Compounds
  • Glycine
  • Iron Chelating Agents
  • Male
  • Random Allocation
  • Rats
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Spectrophotometry, Atomic
  • Zinc
  • Zinc Compounds

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