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Field pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a nutritious pulse crop consumed as food and animal feed in many countries. The present study was performed to determine the potential effects of Fe, phytate, and carotenoid concentrations on Fe bioavailability (FeBIO) of field pea seeds. Selected PR-07 (recombinant inbred line [RIL] population derived from the cross ‘Carrera’/‘CDC Striker’) lines, which segregated for Fe concentration and cotyledon color, showed positive correlation between their Fe concentration and FeBIO. In a second study, lines 4802-8 (derived from the cross 1-2347-144/‘CDC Raezer’) and 4803-4 (derived from the cross 1-150-81/‘CDC Limerick’), segregating for phytate concentration and cotyledon color were evaluated for FeBIO. Phytate concentration was negatively correlated with FeBIO in 4802-8 (r = −0.34) and 4803-4 (r = −0.37) sublines. Four carotenoid compounds (lutein, violaxanthin, zeaxanthin, and b-carotene) were measured in seeds of 4802-8 and 4803-4 sublines and summed to determine total carotenoid concentration. Green cotyledon and yellow cotyledon pea sublines did not differ significantly in total carotenoid concentration; b-carotene was detected in green cotyledon sublines but not in yellow cotyledon sublines. Although no significant correlation was detected between total carotenoid concentration and FeBIO, in 4802-8 sublines lutein concentration was positively correlated (r = 0.41) with FeBIO. This research shows the potential positive associations between low phytate, high Fe, and high carotenoid concentration with improved FeBIO in pea seeds to improve Fe nutrition of foods. P. Bangar, Y. Liu, G.C. Arganosa, and T.D. Warkentin, Crop Development Centre, Dep. of Plant Sciences, Univ. of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada; R.P. Glahn, USDA–ARS, Robert Holley Center for Agriculture and Health, Ithaca, NY, USA; S. Whiting, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, Univ. of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada. Received 19 Nov. 2016. Accepted 17 Aug. 2016. Assigned to Associate Editor Adam Heuberger. *Corresponding author (tom. [email protected]). Abbreviations: AAS, atomic absorption spectrometry; CDC, Crop Development Centre; FeBIO, iron bioavailability; GH, green cotyledon–high Fe concentration; GL, green cotyledon–low Fe concentration; PA-P, phytic acid P; Pi, inorganic P; RIL, recombinant inbred line; YH, yellow cotyledon–high Fe concentration; YL, yellow cotyledon-low Fe concentration. Published in Crop Sci. 57:891–902 (2017). doi: 10.2135/cropsci2016.08.0682 © Crop Science Society of America | 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Published February 16, 2017