Kiwifruit helps iron levels

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Gold kiwifruit can help boost a diner's iron levels, according to new research by Massey University.

The research found that high levels of carotenoids - yellow, orange, and red pigments in plants - and vitamin C in gold kiwifruit could help people absorb iron from their normal diet.

Regular eating of gold kiwifruit with meals which also contained iron could help people better manage their energy and iron levels, Massey researcher Dr Cath Conlon said.

"This is the first study of its type to investigate whether a vitamin C-rich food was able to improve iron status in women with low iron stores," she said.

A Zespri spokeswoman said that while the study only investigated the iron-uptake properties in gold kiwifruit - which typically had more vitamin C - "there is every reason to expect a similar response from green kiwifruit".

The research findings published in the British Journal of Nutrition were important because iron deficiency was the main micronutrient deficiency, thought to affect more than 1.6 billion people, and was the most common cause of anaemia, Dr Conlon said.

The study was carried out on 89 women with low iron stores, who were fed an iron-fortified breakfast cereal, milk and either two gold kiwifruit or a banana - known to have low levels of vitamin C - for breakfast for 16 weeks.

Iron levels lifted in the blood of the women who ate the kiwifruit, compared with the women who ate the bananas.

- NZPA