Mineral fortified foods provide a convenient way for consumers to incorporate extra minerals into their diet while providing an opportunity for food and beverage manufacturers to respond to the trend to healthier diets. Selecting the ideal mineral source for fortification can often require finding a balance between the bioavailability of the mineral and the sensory properties of the fortified food or beverage. Soluble mineral compounds generally have good bioavailability, however their disassociation produces highly reactive “free mineral ions”. These free mineral ions react with other food components, resulting in off-flavours, colour changes, insoluble complexes and decreases the bioavailability of the mineral. Whereas insoluble mineral compounds are poorly absorbed and precipitate when used to fortify liquid foods.
LipoTech uses patented stabilisation processes to produce highly bioavailable minerals which will not interact with the other components in the food.
The two stabilisation processes, AAS® and Microencapsulation, are described below.
Amino Acid Stabilisation (AAS®)
Our AAS® stabilised mineral range tightly binds the mineral to both an amino group and a salt, thereby protecting the mineral and preventing it’s disassociation. As a result, very little free mineral ion is available to react with other food components, overcoming many of the technical issues usually associated with mineral fortification of foods, particularly beverages.
Key properties:
- neutral flavour
- high bioavailability
- no interaction with other food components
- no change to the taste, colour, texture or visual appearance of the food
- will not form insoluble complexes
- no degradation of other nutrients in the food
- excellent solubility
- stable during processing and storage
- produces crystal clear solutions, ideal for nutrient and sports drinks
We have a range of AAS® minerals available to help you fortify your food or beverage with calcium, iron, magnesium or zinc.
Microencapsulation (Biofer®)
Our microencapsulated iron offers an alternative to the challenges presented by some applications, particularly dairy foods, due to the high reactivity of iron*. A patented microencapsulation process wraps the iron in a phospholipid membrane (liposome), preventing it from coming in contact with the other food components. This encapsulation avoids the interactions which commonly occur with conventional iron. To achieve this, spheres of phospholipid molecules are formed which trap ferrous sulphate (complexed with vitamin C) inside a liposome. The spheres are minute, being less than three microns in diameter, and far too small to be seen with the naked eye. The external water-soluble heads provide good solubility to the overall molecule allowing large amounts of iron to be dissolved. The phospholipid membrane protects and isolates the iron until it has been ingested while the vitamin C facilitates the uptake of the ferrous sulphate in the intestine.
The first commercial product to use our microencapsulated iron (Biofer®) was a fluid milk launched in 1993 with 1.5mg iron / 100mL.
Key properties of Biofer®:
- no change to the taste, colour or odour of the fortified food
- highly bioavailable source of iron
- no degradation of other nutrients in the food, e.g. vitamins, amino acids
- excellent stability
- withstands the processes of production, including sterilisation & homogenisation
* The ferric complexes (Fe3+) formed as a result of the oxidation of iron during processing and storage can cause the food to turn brown, produce precipitates and decrease the bioavailability of iron. Even a small amount of ferric ion is enough to discolour the fortified food to a yellow or brown colour. Iron compounds can catalyse oxidation reactions resulting in off-flavours. In the case of dairy products, oxidation of the fat leads to rancidity. In addition, iron compounds have a metallic after-taste.