Effect of soybean seeds treated with germination or fermentation on nutritional status and growth in developing rats with iron deficiency anemia

Abstract<br /> To investigate the interaction effect of iron-deficiency anemia and feeding soybean in different ratios and treatments to wheat flour, 84 albino male growing rats were used as biological model in this study. They aged 24-35 days and body weight 60-74 gr. They were divided randamlly into two main groups. First group contained healthy rats, which inturn divided into seven equal subgroups according to hemoglobin level and body mass. Second group contained induced anemic rats (iron depleted by bleeding about 15-20 drops of blood) divided into seven equal subgroups also. Both anemic and healthy groups were fed for 15 days experimental period the balanced experimental diets as follows: Wheat flour (WF, control diet), WF supplemented with 7.5% or 15% ground soybean seeds, WF supplemented with 7.5% or 15% germinated soybean seeds, WF supplemented with 7.5% or 15% fermented soybean seeds. Nutritional status, body weight gain, hemoglobin levels, growth rate, amount of diets consumed, feces eliminated weights, dietary and fecal iron contents, liver and spleen weights and their iron contents were estimated, dietary apparent iron absorption (AFeA%) and dry matter absorption (DMA%) were calculated. <br /> Analysis of variance and Duncan multiple tests of body weight gains, growth rates, amount of diets consumed, feces eliminated and their iron contents, liver and spleen weights, and their iron content values of anemic rats were lower than those of healthy rats. However, the AFeA% of anemic rats was higher than those values of healthy rats. Dry matter absorption was similar in both groups of rats. 15% germinated soybean seeds supplementation to WF indicated to have promising effects in preventing and treatment of iron-deficiency anemia.