Résumé
In the present work, the bioavailability of heme iron has been studied by means of the hemoglobin regeneration method with iron-deficient rats model, which was conducted by feeding a low iron basal diet. Anemic rats were then divided into groups to which basal diets with various iron levels (7, 14, 28 ppm Fe) from heme iron (Group 1,2,3) and ferrous sulfate (Group 4, 5, 6, as a reference standard) were subsequently fed respectively.After 5-week regeneration period, the regenerated hemoglobin levels of the rats of corresponding groups were (1) 9.56→12.25, (2) 9.71→12.02, (3)9.51→ 11.09, (4) 9.74→10.81, (5) 9.66→11.24, and (6) 9.67→12.05, thereby the percentage of relative bioavailability (RBA) of heme iron were 117.7%, 124.8%, and 94.9% respectively. This result showed that the lower level of heme iron has a higher RBA. The reason why the effect of high level of heme iron was relatively lower was not fully understood.