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Potential of a defatted green microalgal biomass as an iron source for hemoglobin repletion (828.8)
Author(s) -
Kim Jonggun,
Lei Xin Gen
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.828.8
Subject(s) - hemoglobin , weanling , zoology , anemia , ferrous , biomass (ecology) , food science , biology , chemistry , biochemistry , endocrinology , medicine , agronomy , organic chemistry
Iron deficiency anemia is a widespread nutritional disorder around the world, and pigs are an excellent model to study human iron nutrition. Previous research in our laboratory demonstrated a tendency of feeding iron‐rich microalgae to elevate blood hemoglobin concentrations in pigs fed iron‐adequate diets. Two experiments were conducted in weanling pigs to determine such effectiveness of a defatted green microalgal biomass ( Desmodesmus sp., Cellana, Kailua‐Kona, HI) generated from the biofuel research. In Experiment 1, pigs (11.3 ± 0.6 kg of body weight) with low hemoglobin concentrations (8.2 ± 2.9 g/dL) were fed a corn‐soy basal diet (BD) without supplemental iron (n = 5) or the diet plus 7.5% microalgae (n = 6) for 5 wk. The algae diet elevated (P < 0.05) packed cell volume by 23‐26% and blood hemoglobin concentrations by 22‐32% at or after wk 3. In Experiment 2, pigs (12.9 ± 0.6 kg) with normal blood hemoglobin concentrations (12.1 ± 0.38 g/dL) were fed the BD supplemented with ferrous sulfate (n = 10) or 15% algae (n = 10) for 5 wk. There was no dietary treatment effect on either packed cell volume or hemoglobin concentrations. The diets did not alter body weight gain or daily feed intake of pigs in either experiment. In conclusion, the defatted green microalgal biomass was effective in helping hemoglobin repletion of marginally anemic pigs. Our ongoing research is exploring novel promoting mechanisms of the biomass in addition to its high iron concentration. Grant Funding Source : Supported in part by a USDA/DOE Biomass R&D Initiative grant (2010‐0106)