Preparation and Characterization of a Novel Polysaccharide-Iron(III) Complex in Auricularia auricula Potentially Used as an Iron Supplement.

Tong Liu,Bingyu Chen,Dawei Wang,Hongcheng Liu,Yanrong Zhang,Tingting Liu,Hongxiu Fan,Fengjie Sun

doi:10.1155/2019/6416941

Abstract

Iron deficiency anemia has been a widespread disease. As an effective and stable iron supplement, the physiochemical properties of the polysaccharide iron complex have been widely studied. In this study, we characterized a novel polysaccharide-iron(III) complex extracted in an edible fungal species Auricularia auricular (AAPS-iron(III)). The highest iron content (28.40%) in the AAPS-iron(III) complex was obtained under the optimized preparation conditions including an AAPS to FeCl3∙6H2O ratio of 2:3 (w/w), a pH value of 8.0 in solution, a reaction temperature of 50°C, and a reaction time of 3 h. The physical and chemical properties of the AAPS-iron(III) complex were characterized by qualitative and quantitative analyses using scanning electron microscope, particle size distribution, thermogravimetric analyzer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, circular dichroism, and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance. Result showed that, although the iron was bound to the polysaccharide, it was released under artificial gastrointestinal conditions. The AAPS-iron(III) complex exhibited high stability (under 50-256°C) and water solubility. The AAPS-iron(III) complex also showed high antioxidant activity in vitro, demonstrating an additional health benefit over other typical nonantioxidant iron nutritional supplements. Furthermore, the AAPS-iron(III) complex showed high efficiency on the treatment of the iron deficiency anemia in the model rats. Therefore, the AAPS-iron(III) complex can be used as a nutritional fortifier to supply iron in industrial processing and to assist the treatment of iron deficiency anemia.

Highlights

Iron is one of the most important minerals in the human body
Results showed that, after adding ferric chloride to the solution of Auricularia auricula polysaccharides with sodium citrate, iron ions react with citrate ions to form a ferric citrate complex
It is reasonable to speculate that the complexation of auricula Polysaccharide (AAPS) with iron ions causes the two thermal decompositions of the APPS-iron(III) complex. These results demonstrate that the AAPS-iron(III) complex maintained high thermal stability in the temperature ranging from 50∘C to 256∘C, indicating that the AAPS-iron(III) complex is sufficiently stable if used as a type of nutritional fortifiers which are generally required to be stable below 250∘C in the food industry

Summary

Introduction

As an auxiliary factor of metabolisms and functions of the immune system, iron plays an important role in maintaining the normal functions of organisms [1]. To compensate for the iron deficiency, ferrous salts such as ferrous sulfate, iron fumarate, and ferrous gluconate are commonly used as oral iron supplements [3, 4]. Long-term use of oral iron supplements may cause gastrointestinal side effects [5] and iron-induced oxidative stress [6]. Studies have shown that the gastrointestinal side effects caused by the long-term use of therapeutic ferrous sulfate oral agents may include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and constipation [7,8,9,10]. It is imperative to develop new iron supplements without the side effects

Methods

Results

Conclusion