Pea Protein Provides a Promising Matrix for Microencapsulating Iron

Abstract

Worldwide, the most prevalent nutritional deficiency is iron. The strategies for iron supplementation often fail due to poor adherence to supplementation methods contributed to unpleasant sensory characteristics. An alternative is the use of microencapsulated nutrients for home fortification in order to mask undesirable tastes and to allow its release in strategic sites of the gastrointestinal tract. Toward this end, pea protein concentrate was tested as a natural, edible and alternative material and the spray-drying technique was utilized for the preparation of microparticles containing ferrous sulfate. Their physical and chemical characteristics were evaluated. The microparticles had a spherical shape and grooves with an average size ranging between 2 and 3 μm. Analysis by in vitro assays tested the release of iron in simulated salivary and gastric fluids and its intestinal absorption in Caco-2 cells. No dissolution of iron occurred in the salivary medium whereas the sensory analysis showed good acceptance of a product which incorporated 5.5 mg of iron per 100 g portion of food. Thus, the effectiveness of microencapsulation was demonstrated by utilizing a plant protein as an encapsulating matrix for the controlled release of iron and capable of preserving the bioaccessibility of ferrous sulfate.

Protein Oxidation in Plant Protein-Based Fibrous Products: Effects of Encapsulated Iron and Process Conditions

“…The iron retention of the iron-loaded pea protein particles after spray-drying and exposure to 100 and 140 °C were 59.86 ± 0.91, 61.45 ± 0.5, and 61.71 ± 0.58%, respectively. Our iron-retention results were lower than the value of 67% described by Ferreira 21 but higher than the value of 43.9% described by Bittencourt et al 16 The differences are probably due to adaptations in the spray-drying settings.…”

“…Iron-loaded pea protein particles were produced according to Bittencourt et al 16 with a few modifications. A feed solution (6.34% solid content) with PPC as the wall material and ferrous sulfate heptahydrate as a core material was prepared.…”

“…Previous research has shown that encapsulating ferrous sulfate in pea protein spray-dried particles is a promising method, considering the iron bioaccessibility 16 and the potential to mask the metallic taste. 16,17 Moreover, the incorporation of such ferrous sulfate pea protein spray-dried particles (here referred to as iron-loaded pea protein particles) in cooked black beans 17 and in a banana candy 16 showed good consumer acceptability. It should be noted, though, that the iron-loaded pea protein particles were incorporated after the food was processed, which means that the iron-loaded pea protein particles were not exposed to further food process conditions.…”

Formulation of Ethyl Cellulose Microparticles Incorporated Pheophytin A Isolated from Suaeda vermiculata for Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities

“…Additionally, it can enhance the surface area of chemically incompatible substances, and thus reduce the gastrointestinal adverse effects of pheo-a [15]. It was reported that the ferrous sulphate and potassium chloride solutions have been chemically solubilized through the modification of dissolution rates and the duration of action via encapsulation processes [16,17,18]. Ethyl cellulose (EC) is a type of cellulosic polymer that was used in this study to formulate pheo-a microparticles with high water solubility and stability in pH 7.1 for further usage as a formulated dosage form.…”

ENCAPSULATING PROPERTIES OF LEGUME PROTEINS: RECENT UPDATES & PERSPECTIVES

“…[24] Factors affecting the shape of particles are coating material, physicochemical properties of the internal core and technique applied on it (as shown in Figure 1). [25] Changes in the structure of LP concentrates and isolates are obtained due to the chemical, physical and enzymatic modifications that guarantee the encapsulation and emulsification characteristics. These adaptation involve application of alkylation, deamidation, acylation, succinylation, methylation and esterification in terms of chemical modification and high pressure, extrusion, heat and ultracentrifugation in the case of physical modification and enzymatic modifications are achieved by endo-and exoproteases.…”