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The addition of folic acid to Double Fortified Salt (with iron and iodine) aims to simultaneously ameliorate three major micronutrient deficiencies in vulnerable populations. To make Triple Fortified Salt, we added folic acid to the iodine solution (first method) and the iron premix (second method) that are used to fortify salt with iron and iodine. When added through the solution, sodium carbonate was needed to dissolve folic acid and to adjust pH. Alternately, folic acid was added either to the iron core or sandwiched between the core and TiO 2 layer of the iron premix. Folic acid and iodine were stable in all cases, retaining more than 70% of the added micronutrients after six months at 45 °C/60–70% relative hu. Adding folic acid to the premix's iron core is preferred as folic acid retention was slightly higher, and the added folic acid did not impact the salt's colour. The additional cost for adding the micronutrients to salt is about 27¢/person per year. Folic acid in the fortified salt made with the preferred method was stable in cooking and did not affect selected cooked foods' sensory properties. The technology is a cost-effective approach for simultaneously combating iron, iodine, and folic acid deficiencies.

The technology to simultaneously fortify salt with iron and iodine was developed in Canada and transferred and scaled up in India. The double fortified salt has reached more than 60 million consumers so far. Double fortification of salt is a cost-effective and reliable means of improving iron and iodine deficiencies at a population level. However, high-quality iron premix is essential for the stability of iodine and the program’s success. Therefore, we developed a reliable and cost-effective method for premix coating quality evaluation in the field, especially in low-income settings. The integrity and chemical composition of the coating and exposure of iron at the surface (∼10 μm deep) were determined using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to predict the stability of the fortified salt. The phenanthroline colour dropper test was used to test the quality of the double fortified salt by reaction with ferrous iron present on the premix surface. Five iron premix samples were compared. Based on the iron release, coating composition, and the reaction with phenanthroline, Premix-3, and its corresponding DFS, obtained from a local shop in India had the lowest quality among all samples tested. The results of the dropper test corresponded with the analysis using sophisticated analytical tools, confirming it as a simple, reliable, and cost-effective test for iron premix coating quality and integrity. This simple test would be crucial for a successful double fortification program, especially in low-income countries, in predicting iron premix quality, a critical determinant of iodine stability during storage, distribution, and retail. These study results can help governments and NGOs to establish quality standards for iron premix used for salt fortification programs.

Vitamins and iron are micronutrients that are of paramount importance in human nutrition. High prevalence of the diseases caused by micronutrient deficiency accentuates the need to consider strategies for the fortification of food products with these micronutrients to enhance their nutritional properties for addressing micronutrient deficiencies. During recent years, specific attention has been devoted to the development and implementation of different processing alternatives for food fortification. Multiple emulsion systems, particularly double emulsions (DEs), show potential for delivery of micronutrients, enabling their controlled delivery and enhanced bioaccessibility during digestion. As micronutrient deficiencies are a major public health concern, this review article aims to highlight recent advances in the application of multiple emulsions for enhanced delivery of vitamins and iron with the aim to provide insights to food scientists and nutritionists considering strategies for food fortification.

Curcumin is a biomolecule with functional moieties, which contribute to its anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antioxidant properties. It has shown several therapeutic effects on treating inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases and contributes to the reduction of oxidative stress and damage to body tissues. However, its low solubility and fast metabolism limit its absorption in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and lead to its low bioavailability. Preparation of Pickering emulsions stabilized with mineral or biopolymer-based nanoparticles can be an effective strategy for enhancing the stability of curcumin against degradation, increasing its bioaccessibility in the GI tract, and achieving its controlled release at various locations based on changes in environmental conditions. Various nanoparticles prepared from minerals, proteins, and polysaccharides show potential for stabilizing the curcumin-loaded emulsions, and their wettability can be altered through complexation and formation of hybrid nanoparticles. Stabilization of Pickering emulsions with polysaccharide-based nanoparticles and their complexes can enhance the stability of the curcumin against degradation. Moreover, various protein-based nanoparticles and their conjugated forms with other proteins or polysaccharides can enable the preparation of high internal phase Pickering emulsions (HIPEs) with concomitant higher loading and bioaccessibility of the curcumin molecule. In light of the several therapeutic properties of curcumin, this review article aims to highlight recent studies and the strategies used for the preparation of curcumin Pickering emulsions stabilized by various nanoparticles for enhancing its bioaccessibility during metabolism. These may be useful in pharmaceutical and food industries for drug development and delivery and fortification of food products with this nutraceutical component.Graphical abstract

Low intake and bioavailability of iron causing iron deficiency anemia is a major public health concern, that may be addressed by fortification of food with iron. Among the techniques used for food fortification, emulsions emerged during recent years as potential delivery systems of micronutrients. Ferric sodium EDTA is known as a suitable iron source for food fortification due to its higher bioavailability and capability to inhibit the binding of iron to polyphenols and phytates. Its encapsulation in the W 1 /O/W 2 double emulsions protects it from interaction with other ingredients in the food matrix and enables its controlled delivery during digestion. The complex of sodium caseinate and sodium alginate as the hydrophilic emulsifier provides higher stability to the interface and enables controlled release of iron through the pH-responsiveness of this complex. In vitro gastric and intestinal digestion of emulsions prepared with coconut or red palm oil were tested. Both tested oils showed almost 50% of iron release after 1.1–1.2 h during intestinal digestion. The higher gastric release rate observed for palm oil compared with coconut oil was likely due to lower saturated fat content. Gompertz and Peppas-Sahlin models could explain the intestinal and gastric release of iron with higher accuracy. The double emulsions were stable during 1 month storage, although they experienced some degree of droplet coalescence. The encapsulation efficiency (EE%) for iron was 85.5%. The results of this study might be useful for food scientists who would like to develop new strategies for food fortification with the vital iron micronutrient.

Cyclodextrins (CDs) have been investigated as potential biopolymeric carriers that can form inclusion complexes with numerous bioactive ingredients. The inclusion of micronutrients (e.g. vitamins or minerals) into cyclodextrins can enhance their solubility and provide oxidative or thermal stability. It also enables the formulation of products with extended shelf-life. The designed delivery systems with CDs and their inclusion complexes including electrospun nanofibers, emulsions, liposomes, and hydrogels, show potential in enhancing the solubility and oxidative stability of micronutrients while enabling their controlled and sustained release in applications including food packaging, fortified foods and dietary supplements. Nano or micrometer-sized delivery systems capable of controlling burst release and permeation, or moderating skin hydration have been reported, which can facilitate the formulation of several personal and skin care products for topical or transdermal delivery of micronutrients. This review highlights recent developments in the application of CDs for the delivery of micronutrients, i.e. vitamins, iron, and iodine, which play key roles in the human body, emphasizing their existing and potential applications in the food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmeceuticals industries. Graphical abstract

Processes for the production of protein isolates from camerlina Camelina sativa were developed by modifying the procedure used for other seeds from the Brassicaceae family, such as rapeseed and mustard. The procedure consisted of defatting the seed followed by alkaline extraction at pH 11, ultra- and diafiltration using a 5-kDa membrane, isolelectric precipitation of the proteins at pH 5 and recovery of the acid soluble protein isolates (SPI) after further filtration and drying. Protein yields as precipitated protein isolate and SPI were 10.7 and 11.4%, containing 67 and 42%, respectively. Due to the high concentration of mucilage in camelina, a water-to-seed ratio of 30 had to be used for protein extraction from the hexane-defatted seed and most of the mucilage had to be removed prior to the defatting process. A rapid mucilage extraction process using water at 55 °C was developed. Camelina mucilage absorbs water and oil. Viscosity measurements of dried and redissolved mucilage showed the highest values at natural pH, and the viscosity increased rapidly above 1% solids concentration. It may be a useful product in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Low bioavailability of iron in the presence of polyphenols can lead to its low uptake by the body resulting in iron-deficiency anaemia. Curcuminoids are polyphenols that possess anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, antioxidant, and neuroprotective properties and if their iron chelation can be controlled, double fortification of foods with iron can overcome the problem of iron deficiency anaemia, while enhancing other healthy properties of foods. This study explored the co-delivery of ferric sodium EDTA or ferrous sulphate together with curcumin through double emulsions stabilized by protein-poly/oligosaccharide complexes as hydrophilic and PGPR as the lipophilic emulsifiers. The formed sodium caseinate (NaCas)-sodium alginate (NaAlg) and NaCas-sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC) complexes increased the stability of the emulsion interface and resulted in high bioaccessibility of both ferric iron (~ 86–92%) and curcumin (~ 76–86%) due to the presence of EDTA in the iron complex’ molecular structure. The lower stability of emulsions stabilized with NaCas-ß-cyclodextrin (ßCD) was increased and the low intestinal bioaccessibility of curcumin (~ 33%) was enhanced to 69.5% when curcumin was incorporated inside ßCD cavity, positioned in the biopolymeric shell with the addition of NaAlg and formation of NaCas-NaAlg-ßCD-curcumin-inclusion complex (IC). Compared with ferric iron, low bioaccessibilities (~ 30%) were obtained for ferrous sulphate as iron was partially chelated with curcumin. For co-delivery of ferric sodium EDTA and curcumin, the emulsions stabilized by NaCas-NaAlg, NaCas-NaCMC, and NaCas-NaAlg-ßCD-curcumin-IC were stable during storage with negligible droplet coalescence, which suggests that co-fortification can be a valuable tool in improving the nutrition of iron deficient populations.

Iron deficiency is the primary cause of many widespread nutritional diseases including anemia, pregnancy complications, and infant mortality. Release kinetics of iron premixes to be mixed with food items like salt, rice, and tea is a key research objective of many globally active iron fortification efforts. Iron release kinetics of microcapsules of two reverse-enteric coating materials (chitosan and Eudragit EPO) encapsulating various amounts of ferrous sulfate (10–40% of total other solids) were done at three pH values (1, 4, 7) for 2 hours. Chitosan and Eudragit microcapsules contained 2.8–5.3% ( w / w ) and 1.7–9.6% ( w / w ) iron, respectively, depicting higher iron loading capacity of Eudragit microcapsules. More than 90% iron was released from most samples within 30 min under stomach conditions (pH 1) and less than 15% iron was released in 2 h under ambient conditions (pH 7), showing suitability of both chitosan and Eudragit EPO as reverse-enteric coatings for iron encapsulation. In terms of reverse-enteric behavior (RE), Eudragit EPO (RE = 2.4) was found to be slightly better than chitosan, suggesting the use of fillers in future research. Higuchi model and Hixson-Crowell model were found to best fit the data, suggesting a transport phenomenon governed by both (a) the diffusion process through the coating material and (b) the dissolution phenomenon resulting in decrease in size of the capsules. Results from this study shall provide guidance for technology development aspects of various food fortification initiatives and an understanding of the iron release from these fortificants during the food preparation and digestion stages.