Effects of Cooking and Chemical Treatment on Heme and Nonheme Iron in Meat

Treatment of ground beef samples with heat (conventional and microwave), ascorbic acid, or H 2 O 2 increased nonheme iron concentrations. The increases ranged from less than 10% to more than 100% depending on the type, length, and severity of the treatment. Cooking of fresh beef round using common household methods (braising, roasting, microwave cooking) resulted in nonheme iron increases that were generally less than 10%. Treatment of hemin and meat extract solutions with heat and H 2 O 2 resulted in destruction of the iron‐porphyrin complex. Oxidative cleavage of the porphyrin ring followed by release of the iron is probably the mechanism for the observed increases in nonheme iron.