Improving the Bioavailability and in Vitro Release of bovine liver Ferritin via Multi-Polymer microencapsulation system

Abstract

Although ferritin is considered biologically safe and a high iron source, its nature makes it vulnerable to degradation by stomach acid before its iron reaches the absorption sites in the intestine. This research aimed to examine the structural stability and functionality of a microencapsulation system composed of sodium alginate, whey protein isolate, and xanthan gum, to enhance the ferritin fortification of milk powder. Microcapsules were produced using extrusion and spray drying, and their morphology was investigated. The field emission scanning electron microscopy revealed a spherical shape with slight roughness on the nanoscale. The atomic force microscope show that the surface capsule has uniform distribution of peaks and valleys. In-vitro gastrointestinal digestion revealed that the microcapsules released 0.99 ppm of iron under the stomach condition, while most of the iron was released gradually under the intestine conditions (pH ≈ 7.5). Furthermore, the microencapsulation showed significant differences between the control sample and the high concentration of the ferritin-fortified sample in terms of the sensory evaluation. Therefore, the results indicate that the proposed microencapsulation multilayer is an effective system to produce iron fortified products with high bioavailability.