Vikas Mittal

Citation

Thesis Title
Interaction of iron, protein and orthophosphate in milk systems

Read article at Massey Research Online:

The proteins in milk, especially caseins, have a high capacity and affinity to bind iron. However, when high levels of iron are added, insoluble solids form. Mr Mittal’s research showed that the addition of orthophosphate, to a mixture of iron and caseins, irrespective of its sequence of addition, formed soluble complexes. These complexes contained a significantly higher amount of iron than has been previously achieved. Two possible mechanisms were outlined for the increased solubility of the protein-iron complexes using a range of different techniques: (1) ferric phosphate stabilisation by caseins and (2) orthophosphate adsorption onto precipitated ferric-casein complexes. Mr Mittal''sresearch has contributed significantly to the understanding of the role played by orthophosphate during the binding of iron to proteins in milk and model protein systems. The study resulted in three milk protein based iron fortificants being developed/scaled-up and a patent granted.

Supervisors
Distinguished Professor Harjinder Singh
Professor Aiqian Ye
Dr Shantanu Das
Dr Ashling Ellis