Iron-whey peptide chelate: evaluation of iron bioavailability in a Caco-2 cell culture model

• Grant number: 15/02254-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2015
• End date: March 20, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Science
• Principal Investigator: Flavia Maria Netto
• Grantee: Maria Elisa Caetano Silva Abreu
• Supervisor: Amparo Alegría Torán
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universitat de València, Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/10356-7 - Iron-whey peptide chelate: preparation, characterization and evaluation of pro-oxidant effect of iron and its bioavailability in a Caco-2 cell culture model, BP.DR

Abstract

Food supplementation with iron has been a challenge, once in salt form, as it is generally applied, besides the low bioavailability, the mineral may lead to digestive problems, such as stomachache or diarrhea and even cause changes in flavor and appearance of food products. In a previous work, we verified that whey peptides show great iron-binding capacity. The Fe-peptides complexes showed stability under gastric conditions, suggesting that the complexation may promote a decrease in side effects, triggered by free iron. As a continuity of that study, the PhD project aims to obtain and to characterize Fe-whey peptides complexes, in addition to study the possible effects exerted by complexation in the mineral. We intend to evaluate the oxidative stability of emulsions containing iron and the bioavailability of the mineral. This proposal of research internship abroad aims to evaluate the bioavailability of iron in an in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell culture model, at the University of Valencia, supervised by Prof. Dr. Amparo Alegría and Dr. Antonio Cilla. Iron bioavailability will be evaluated in its free form (as iron salts) and complexed form (as Fe-whey peptides complexes and ferrous bisglycinate). For this evaluation, Caco-2 cells will be used and the ferritin formation as an indicator of iron absorption. Additionally, it is expected that the PhD student acquires knowledge about iron bioavailability technique, besides other correlated techniques which could be useful to the project development. The previous step of complexes obtention and characterization are being held at University of Campinas. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CAETANO-SILVA, MARIA ELISA; CILLA, ANTONIO; BERTOLDO-PACHECO, MARIA TERESA; NETTO, FLAVIA MARIA; ALEGRIA, AMPARO. Evaluation of in vitro iron bioavailability in free form and as whey peptide-iron complexes. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, v. 68, n. SI, p. 95-100, MAY 2018. (15/02254-5, 13/10356-7)

CAETANO-SILVA, MARIA ELISA; NETTO, FLAVIA MARIA; BERTOLDO-PACHECO, MARIA TERESA; ALEGRIA, AMPARO; CILLA, ANTONIO. Peptide-metal complexes: obtention and role in increasing bioavailability and decreasing the pro-oxidant effect of minerals. CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION, v. 61, n. 9, MAY 2020. (15/02254-5, 13/10356-7)

CAETANO-SILVA, MARIA ELISA; CILLA, ANTONIO; BERTOLDO-PACHECO, MARIA TERESA; NETTO, FLAVIA MARIA; ALEGRIA, AMPARO. Evaluation of in vitro iron bioavailability in free form and as whey peptide-iron complexes. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, v. 68, p. 6-pg., 2018-05-01. (13/10356-7, 15/02254-5)