Nano-Structured Minerals and Trace Elements for Food and Nutrition Applications

The main strategies to alleviate mineral deficiencies are food diversification, food fortification or supplementation. Absorption of poorly soluble iron compounds can be improved by particle size reduction. Reducing the size of mineral and trace element compounds to the nanoscale is a promising recent development to maximize absorption. This chapter analyzes the usefulness of this approach for different minerals. The high specific surface area and the small size of nano-structured compounds are one of their most important characteristics in their use for nutritional applications. The chapter provides a review of the literature and potential applications for selected trace elements and minerals such as iron and zinc. Since nano-sizing compounds increase their surface area, this may increase dissolution, improve absorption, and result in less inert particulate matter in the gut. However, it is still possible that ingested nano-structured compounds may end up in the intestine without further dissolution or disintegration.