Effect of Free Gossypol and Supplemental Dietary Iron on Blood Constituents of Rats

One hundred and forty weanling male albino rats were fed cottonseed meal in 3 experiments to study the effect of iron and heat treatment on gossypol toxicity symptoms, blood constituents, and liver iron levels. Steaming the meal effectively bound free gossypol to the extent that gossypol toxicity, as determined by performance and red blood cell data, was lower than that of the non-heated or dry-heated meal rations. Autoclaving apparently destroyed the gossypol, but lowered available protein to such a degree that red blood cell formation and performance of rats were impaired. High levels of free gossypol resulted in microcytic-hypochromic anemia in animals fed for 28 days, whereas those fed for 14 days had the microcytic-normochromic form. Either supplemental iron or steaming, which reduced the free gossypol level, alleviated these conditions.