Increasing the cooking temperature of meat does not affect nonheme iron absorption from a phytate-rich meal in women.

The effect of increasing cooking temperatures of meat on nonheme iron absorption from a composite meal was investigated. Cysteine-containing peptides may have a role in the iron absorption enhancing effect of muscle proteins. Heat treatment can change the content of sulfhydryl groups produced from cysteine and thereby affect iron absorption.

Nonheme-iron absorption from a phytate-rich meal is increased by the addition of small amounts of pork meat.

Background: Muscle tissue from various sources is known to promote nonheme-iron absorption. However, systematic studies of the dose dependency of this effect of meat on iron absorption from an inhibitory meal with low amounts of meat are lacking.

Objective: We investigated the dose-response effect of small amounts of meat on nonheme-iron absorption from a meal presumed to have low iron bioavailability.