Spray-Dried Encapsulated Iron for Food Fortification

ALBERTO BALDELLI, Yigong Guo, Anubhav Pratap-Singh, The University of British Columbia

     Abstract Number: 8
     Working Group: Health-Related Aerosols

Abstract
Anemia can result from food deficiency. Food fortification is used for decreasing the number of people affected by anemia in developed countries. Microencapsulation helps protect any excipient, including minerals, from degradation and can be maintained in a stable environment. Spray drying is chosen by numerous groups of previous references. We aim to clarify the influence of spray-dried microparticles' formulation on the bioavailability of iron compounds. Solutions composed of maltodextrin (0.9 g/100 ml), iron gluconate (0.9 g/100 ml), and a mucoadhesive polymer (0.9 g/100 ml) were sprayed with a Mini Spray Dryer at an inlet and outlet temperatures of 90 and 55°C, respectively. The polymers were hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HP-MC), methylcellulose (MC), Carrageenan, and Dextran. By changing the polymer forming the shell of the microparticles, the morphology and the projected area equivalent diameter da are almost unchanged. The polymers show similar physical properties, such as a molecular weight higher than the other components, ensuring the formation of a shell. The use of mucoadhesive polymers is validated by the increase in detachment force of 61 and 75 % by comparing the cases without and with HP-MC and in contact with a human intestine and a porcine stomach wall, respectively. The detachment force is higher when using the polymer HP-MC (an average of 1.5 N). The importance of encapsulation is shown in Figure 1 e; the viability of Caco 2 cells is less affected when in contact with encapsulated iron than the pure one. When applying 12 mg/ml of iron, the cell viability over the control is 65 for pure and 200 % for encapsulated ones. This effect could be due to the slowest release rate generated by the encapsulating shell. For the same reason, cell uptake is highly increased when using encapsulated iron for any polymer selected.