Recent findings made by our group indicate that the iron content in Phaseolus vulgaris leaves is at least four times greater than in grains therefore, we evaluated the effect of supplementation with bean leaf (iron content of 275 mg/kg on a dry basis) in iron-deficient rats. Anemia was induced by feeding rats with an iron-deficient diet (IDD) for 11 days and iron-recovery diets were subsequently tested for 14 days using a normal diet, a 10 % bean leaf-supplemented IDD (BLSD) or a ferrous sulfate-supplemented IDD. Decreased levels of leukocytes (64 %), erythrocytes (30 %), lymphocytes (62 %), granulocytes (72 %), hematocrit (34 %), hemoglobin (35 %), and ferritin (34 %) were observed in the iron-deficient rats compared to the control rats.
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