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. Twenty-one women (25 +/- 3 y) were served a basic meal without meat and two other meals consisting of the basic meal plus 75 g of pork meat cooked at 70, 95 or 120degreesC. The meals were extrinsically labeled with Fe-55 or Fe-59. Iron absorption was determined from measurements of wholebody Fe-59 retention and the activity of Fe-55 and Fe-59 in blood samples. Nonheme iron absorptions were 0.9 (0.5-4.0)% (P = 0.06), 0.7 (0.4-3.9)% (P = 0.1) and 2.0 (1.3-3.1)% (P < 0.001) greater when meat cooked at 70, 95 or 120degreesC, respectively, was added to the basic meal. Increasing the cooking temperature of meat did not impair nonheme iron absorption compared with cooking at 70degreesC. Because the cysteine content of meat decreased with increasing cooking temperature, this argues against a specific contribution of sulfhydryl groups from cysteine residues in the promotion of nonheme iron absorption by meat proteins.