Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Iron deficiency anaemia is one of the most prevalent nutritional deficiency disorders \nin the world. Food iron fortification is a widely used strategy to reduce the risk of \ndeficiency but presents a major challenge to the food industry. The more \nbioavailable forms of iron, such as ferrous gluconate, cause adverse organoleptic \nchanges when added to foods. The primary aim of the work described in this thesis \nwas to test whether alginate would bind soluble forms of iron and thereby maintain \nits bioavailability. Initial in vitro studies demonstrated that alginate solutions and \nbeads loaded with ferrous gluconate delivered iron in an available form for uptake \ninto Caco-2 cells (measured by ferritin formation). A human study was undertaken to \nassess the bioavailability of ferrous gluconate in alginate beads, and it was found to \nbe significantly lower than ferrous gluconate on its own, so further in vitro studies \nwere undertaken to examine possible reasons for the inhibitory effect of the beads. \nIt was concluded that alginate beads, containing calcium as a gelling agent, are not \nan effective delivery vehicle for soluble iron compounds. However, these findings \nshould not rule out the potential use of alginates as a delivery system for iron, \nespecially in diets containing high levels of phytate. Other related work reported in \nthis thesis includes studies of iron availability from two wheat cultivars with varying \nphytate and iron concentrations, potential use of nicotianamine and 2'- \ndeoxymugineic acid as iron enhancers, and investigations into calcium-iron \ninteractions in a Caco-2 cell model, with the use of live cell imaging techniques and \nconfocal microscopy.
Author: Anna A. Wawer
Language: German
Subfield: Hematology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G5324585312, G7689853932
OpenAlex ID: W832815452