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Edible nanofibers Scientists are developing a new method against iron deficiency
Iron deficiency is one of the most frequent deficiency symptoms not only in this country. Worldwide, about 1.2 billion people are affected. Our body can not produce this trace element itself. Researchers in Switzerland have now developed a new effective dosage form to supplement foods with iron.
Around 1.2 billion people around the world suffer from iron deficiency
Around 1.2 billion people worldwide suffer from iron deficiency. Affected are primarily women. According to experts, every fifth European woman has around 20 iron deficiency. This causes fatigue and other symptoms such as decreased performance, dizziness and headache. It also leads to anemia. Because of various causes, sufferers should urgently go to the doctor for possible iron deficiency.
Around 1.2 billion people worldwide suffer from iron deficiency. Researchers have now developed a new dosage form to supplement food with iron. (Image: monropic / fotolia.com) Iron in a form available to the body
Although home remedies can often help with iron deficiency, according to experts from Switzerland, iron supplementation through diet or medication is difficult because their success requires iron to be in a form available to the body.
In addition, the trace element can change the color, the taste and the smell of foods fortified with it so that they can no longer feed, reports the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich in a statement.
ETH researchers have now developed a new form of iron supplementation of food: a hybrid material made from edible whey protein nanofibers and iron nanoparticles.
The corresponding study has recently been published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Nanofibers combined with iron nanoparticles
The protein nanofibers (called amyloid fibrils) consist of denatured whey proteins that are "cooked" (hydrolyzed) at 90 degrees in a strong acid until they fully extend. Several such protein strands self-assemble to form thicker protein nanofibers.
The scientists combined such nanofibers with iron nanoparticles, which the body can utilize well. To prepare these nanoparticles, they mixed an iron salt (FeCl3) directly with the nanofibers in the same acidic solution.
This resulted in 20 nanometer iron nanoparticles, which were immediately attached to the surface of the nanofibers and stabilized by them. Normally iron nanoparticles are not stable: they form aggregates and are therefore not suitable as a food additive.
As a powder or in liquid form
In an animal experiment, it was found that the novel drug iron deficiency and the associated anemia remedied as well as iron sulfate (FeSO4).
The latter is the current standard of iron supplementation in humans, but often changes taste or color in foods undesirably. According to the information, the preparation was also easy to digest.
As stated in the communication, the iron-coated whey protein nanofibers can be administered either as a powder or in liquid form. The new compound can therefore be given directly into different foods, wherein the sensor of food does not change.
Alternative for people in poorer countries
In their search for possible risks and side effects, researchers wanted to be certain that potentially undigested protein fibers from their iron supplement could not accumulate in the body and lead to tissue anomalies.
"We have found in the examined organs and tissues of the animals not an indication that nanofibers or iron nanoparticles could accumulate or cause organ changes," said study author Professor Raffaele Mezzenga.
For him, it is clear: "Our new iron supplement has a very high potential to successfully fight iron deficiency in a cheap and efficient way."
The starting materials for the preparation are very cheap. Whey proteins are a byproduct of dairy farming and iron salts are also readily available and cheap.
Because the procedure and the ingredients are so easy to handle, such an iron supplement could also be an alternative for people in poor countries, who are more affected by iron deficiency than people in the western industrial nations. (Ad)