Preparation, Characterization, Stability and In Vitro Release of a Pea Protein Fibril-Based Iron Fortificant via Self-Assembly

It is assumed that the stability and bioaccessibility of iron ions in iron–pea protein fibril (Fe-Fib PP) nanocomposite can be remarkably enhanced, and Fe-Fib PP exhibits great potential as an effective iron fortificant. Fe-Fib PP, a stable and effective iron supplement, was fabricated based on the reducing property of pea protein fibrils, derived from pea protein through thermal treatment at pH 2.0. The results demonstrated that the reducing power of iron was remarkably affected by fibril concentration and fibrillization degree. The reducing power of pea protein fibrils gradually enhanced from 0.31 to 0.92 with the increase in incubation time from 0 to 48 h. Compared with iron nanoparticles (Fe–Nano), Fe-Fib PP possessed much higher dispersibility. Additionally, the stability of iron in Fe-Fib PP was significantly higher than that in Fe–Nano under different storage conditions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) outcomes revealed Fe (II) content in Fe-Fib PP (70.75 ± 0.65%) was remarkably higher than that of Fe–Nano (56.05 ± 0.50%). In addition, the bioaccessibility of Fe (II) dramatically improved from 42.7% to 62.8% using PP fibrils as carriers. The findings suggest that Fe-Fib PP is an effective iron nutrition enhancer.