Increasing Micronutrient Bioavailability from Wheat

在英国，铁和锌等必需膳食金属的营养缺乏是一个公共健康问题，尤其是对女孩和年轻女性而言。英国饮食中大约30 - 50%的铁和锌是由谷物和谷物制品（如面包、早餐谷物和烘焙食品）提供的。然而，在全麦小麦中，大部分铁和锌都包含在一层叫做糊粉层的细胞中。我们最近的工作表明，糊粉细胞在通过胃肠道时能够抵抗物理破坏和消化，并在粪便中完整地排出体外。在小麦加工成白面粉的过程中，糊粉层被去除，因此大部分铁和锌都损失了。虽然在碾磨阶段会将铁添加回白面粉中，但目前还没有添加锌。本研究的目的是利用新的食品加工技术来提高小麦中天然铁和锌的生物利用度。这个过程被称为微磨，它会破坏糊粉细胞壁，使铁和锌更容易被吸收。此外，我们将使用经过微磨的纯化糊粉粉来丰富白面粉中的铁和锌。我们最近发表的研究表明，微磨增加了铁的溶解度，增强了肠上皮细胞对铁的吸收，我们预计锌也是如此。我们提案的主要目的是建立在最近公布的数据基础上，进一步表征微磨小麦粉中铁和锌的可用性。我们假设微磨可以增加全麦面粉和富含糊粉的白面粉中的铁和锌的可用性。接下来，我们将开展人为干预研究，以评估由微磨全麦面粉或富含微磨糊粉面粉的白面粉制成的面包卷的铁和锌的生物利用度。在这里，我们假设，与标准面粉相比，含有微粉的食品中铁和锌的生物利用度都会提高。最后，我们将分析使用微磨小麦粉生产的面包的结构，并在一系列感官测试中评估消费者对这些产品的接受程度。我们的假设是，微磨不会对食品结构或消费者的可接受性产生不利影响。我们相信，我们的研究策略将提高由全麦小麦制成的食品的营养质量，并对那些有缺铁和缺锌风险的人有潜在的健康益处。此外，我们的研究可能会确定微磨糊粉作为一种潜在的功能性食品成分，用于强化或丰富谷类食品，以增加铁和锌的含量和生物利用度。

Nutritional deficiency in essential dietary metals such as iron and zinc is a public health concern in the UK, particularly for girls and young women. Approximately 30 - 50% of the iron and zinc in the UK diet is provided by cereals and cereal products (e.g. bread, breakfast cereals and baked goods). However, in wholegrain wheat, most of the iron and zinc is physically contained within a single layer of cells called the aleurone layer. Our recent work shows that aleurone cells are resistant to physical disruption and digestion as they pass along the gastrointestinal tract and are excreted intact in faeces. The aleurone layer is removed during processing of wheat into white flour and hence much of the iron and zinc is lost. While iron is added back into white flour at the milling stage, there is currently no addition of zinc. The aim of this study is to use novel food processing techniques to increase the bioavailability of the naturally-occurring iron and zinc in wheat. This process, called micro-milling, ruptures the aleurone cell walls and potentially makes the iron and zinc more available for absorption. In addition, we will use purified aleurone which has been micro-milled to enrich white flour with iron and zinc. Our recently published work shows that micro-milling increases the solubility of iron and enhances iron absorption by intestinal epithelial cells, and we expect the same to be true for zinc.The main purpose of our proposal is to build on recently published data and further characterise iron and zinc availability from micro-milled wheat flour. We hypothesize that micro-milling will increase iron and zinc availability from wholegrain flour and from aleurone-enriched white flour. Next, we will carry out human intervention studies to assess iron and zinc bioavailability from bread rolls manufactured from micro-milled wholegrain flour or from white flour enriched with micro-milled aleurone flour. Here we hypothesize that bioavailability of both iron and zinc will be enhanced in foods containing micro-milled flour compared with standard-milled flour. Finally, we will analyse the structure of breads produced using micro-milled wheat flour and assess consumer acceptability of these products in a range of sensory tests. Our hypothesis is that micro-milling will not adversely affect food structure or consumer acceptability. We believe that our research strategy will increase the nutritional quality of food products manufactured from wholegrain wheat, and potentially have health benefits for those at risk of iron and zinc deficiency. Furthermore, our studies might identify micro-milled aleurone as a potential functional food ingredient for use in fortifying or enriching cereal-based products to increase iron and zinc content and bioavailability.