Microencapsulation of Fe2+ in Spray-Dried Lactose for Improved Bioavailability

Nan Li,Xu Li,Ping Yang,Xiaomeng Yu,Hongbin Liu,Lingyu Kong,Songwen Tan

doi:10.1155/2021/5840852

Abstract

The development of spray drying technology has been widely used for drying and preservation of food products. Though infant milk powder iron fortification is necessary for infants and children, iron fortification is accompanied by some limitations that reduce its quality and oxidation of Fe2+ into Fe3+, causing sensory problems and even a decrease in iron absorption, which does not meet the normal requirements of infant and child body development. To overcome this adverse effect and to improve the bioavailability of iron, a spray drying method was used to simulate the milk powder production process by codrying a mixture of ascorbic acid and ferrous sulfate, where ascorbic acid was uniformly coated on the outer layer of ferrous sulfate. It was demonstrated that ascorbic acid had a very obvious inhibitory effect on the oxidation of ferrous iron and could maintain the stability of ferrous iron in solid and solution for a long time, thus improving the bioavailability of iron.

Highlights

Iron is an essential element for living organisms, and its ability to convert between trivalent and divalent iron makes it essential for many biochemical functions such as energy production, DNA synthesis, and oxygen transport, which are important for the energy metabolism, brain development, immune function, and thermoregulation in the body
Iron deficiency interferes with the normal function of neurotransmitters, causing delayed brain development in infants and children, resulting in cognitive and psychomotor developmental deficits that can be lifelong despite subsequent correction of iron deficiency [1,2,3]. erefore, it is critical that nursing infants have enough iron to meet their developmental needs
By direct observation of the color of the solution (Figure 1), we can see that the solution without the addition of ascorbic acid has a very distinct tan color, and the color is darker after spraying high temperature and high humidity environment

Summary

Introduction

Iron is an essential element for living organisms, and its ability to convert between trivalent and divalent iron makes it essential for many biochemical functions such as energy production, DNA synthesis, and oxygen transport, which are important for the energy metabolism, brain development, immune function, and thermoregulation in the body. Especially during the rapid growth and development of infancy, can have serious and sometimes irreversible effects on long-term health. At this time, iron deficiency interferes with the normal function of neurotransmitters, causing delayed brain development in infants and children, resulting in cognitive and psychomotor developmental deficits that can be lifelong despite subsequent correction of iron deficiency [1,2,3]. Iron supplementation during infancy and childhood can be achieved in different ways, including foods high in iron, direct administration of supplements, or iron fortification of certain dairy products. These methods are simple, the high cost and low bioavailability hinder the rationality of their application. The encapsulation ratio of product size and shape is controlled, and the operation is simple and economical for the encapsulation of ferrous sulfate

Materials

Experimental Design

Characterization of Samples

Results and Discussion

Conclusion