Iron absorption from red and white wines

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Abstract
Fe (3 mg) was added as ferrous sulfate to 2 dl red wine, white wine and 7% alcohol and its absorption was then measured in 38 fasting male subjects. (The original concentrations of Fe in the 2 wines were low, being 1.01-1.08 mg/l (red wine) and 0.13-0.20 (white wine)). The geometric mean absorption from red wine was only 20% of that from the alcohol solution while more than 4 times as much was absorped from white wine as from the alcohol. Direct comparison showed greater absorption from white wine (10.4%) than from red wine (4.4%). Removal of about 80% of the polyphenols in red wine increased the geometric mean Fe absorption from 1.9% to 3.6%. In vitro experiments indicated that Fe was less soluble and less dialyzable in red wines than in white wines. This was possibly due to the binding of Fe to polyphenols in red wines. Electrophoretic studies suggested that the Fe in white wines was complexed to hydroxycarboxylic acids.