Abstract
Calcium is considered as an important nutrient element for the maintenance of human health, and food-borne nanoparticles (FNs) produced during food processing may have potential as nanocarriers for calcium ion delivery. Beef is an important source of animal protein that has high protein and low fat content and is rich in a variety of amino acids; thus, beef may be a suitable material for the development of calcium nanocarriers. In this paper, FNs were synthesized from beef by one-step hydrothermal synthesis. The FNs had a spherical shape with a size of about 3.0 nm and emitted a bright blue fluorescence under 365 nm ultraviolet irradiation. The amino nitrogen atom and carboxyl oxygen atom of the functional groups on the surface of the FNs were the main binding sites for the chelation of Ca(II). The size of the FNs-Ca(II) complex was about 4.75 nm, and the specific signal peak of calcium at 3.7 keV was observed in its energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy spectrum. The viability of cells treated with FNs-Ca(II) was more than 65%, while viability was only 60% after treatment with CaCl2. The results showed that the FNs from beef have great potential in calcium delivery for the development of a calcium supplement.
Highlights
Calcium has been regarded as an essential nutrient element in life [1]; it has many roles in metabolism and life maintenance and is closely related to several functions, such as immunity, nerve transmission, digestion, and circulation [2]
The health problems caused by calcium deficiency should arouse enough attention to promote the essential development of innovative calcium supplements to overcome calcium deficiency diseases
Geng et al reported that water-soluble food-borne nanoparticles (FNs) derived from beef broth treated by a pressure-cooker for 70 min have a potential application as nanocarriers for zinc [22]
Summary
Calcium has been regarded as an essential nutrient element in life [1]; it has many roles in metabolism and life maintenance and is closely related to several functions, such as immunity, nerve transmission, digestion, and circulation [2]. The health problems caused by calcium deficiency should arouse enough attention to promote the essential development of innovative calcium supplements to overcome calcium deficiency diseases. Inorganic calcium salts, such as calcium carbonate, are the most common calcium supplement because of their high calcium content [8]. Sun et al described a heptapeptide from the ovum of sea cucumber as a chelating agent for enhanced calcium delivery [14] These peptides have excellent calcium chelating abilities, the process of preparing the peptides is tedious and costly, which makes it difficult to be widely used [15]. Our data indicate that FNs with multifunctional groups have the potential to be used as carriers for calcium delivery
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