Paul Daniel N. Gaton, Gregory Lou V. Parcon, Art Gersun J. Petate (March 2009)
Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus – Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PSHS WVC), Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City 5000, Philippines
ABSTRACT
There are two types of iron, heme and non-heme iron. One good source of nonheme iron is seeds of plants. Soybean seeds are a rich source of highly bioavailable dietary iron due to the presence of stable Fe (II) in its hulls (Laszlo, 1987). However the relationship between the amount of soybeans ingested and the amount of iron absorbed has not been determined. This study deals with the investigation of the iron content in the blood of non-anemic rabbits fed with different amounts (0,25,37,5,50 g/kg) of soybean seeds in a period of 5 days. Based on the results gathered, it has been observed that the treatment 1 (50g soybean diet) and treatment 2 (25g soybean diet) shows a positive change in the hematocrit count of the blood after 5 days of feeding. Treatment 2 has the highest change in the hematocrit count of the blood after 5 days of feeding. Treatment 3 (37.5g soybean diet) and Treatment 4 (50g commercial pellet diet) shows a negative change in the hematocrit count of the blood after 5 days of feeding. Treatment 4 has the lowest change in the hematocrit count of the blood after 5 days of feeding.