FOOD SCIENCE

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Ferritins: a Novel Type of Mineral Nutritional Fortifier Carrier

LI Mei-liang, PU Biao, ZHAO Guang-hua   

  1. 1. College of Food Science, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya’an 625014, China;
    2. College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
  • Online:2014-07-15 Published:2014-07-18

Abstract:

Considering the defects of traditional nutritional fortifiers of minerals such as iron, calcium and zinc, ferritin could
be a good carrier of mineral nutritional fortifiers because of its special structure and functions. In this article, the structure
of ferritins is reviewed, along with its functions as carriers to encapsulate metal ions, such as iron, calcium and zinc. This
review implies that ferritins will surely possess a bright prospect in the field of food industry.

Key words: ferritin, nutritional fortifier, mineral element, carrier