2025-08-13 マサチューセッツ工科大学(MIT)
<関連情報>
- https://news.mit.edu/2025/new-iron-iodine-microparticles-for-fortifying-foods-0813
- https://www.cell.com/matter/fulltext/S2590-2385(25)00415-1
鉄分強化用食品添加物としての鉄含有金属有機フレームワーク Ferrous nutritional metal-organic framework as food fortificant
Xin Yang ∙ Linzixuan Zhang ∙ Fangzheng Chen ∙ … ∙ Sydney MacDonald ∙ Robert Langer ∙ Ana Jaklenec
Matter Published:August 13, 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2025.102372
Graphical abstract
Progress and potential
Iron and iodine deficiencies affect over 2 billion people, posing a major global health challenge. Dual-fortified salt could be transformative, especially in regions with poor logistics, yet chemical incompatibility between iron and iodine has hindered progress for decades. We present a cost-effective solution using nutritional metal-organic frameworks (NuMOFs), which enable direct use of elemental iodine without converting to iodide or iodate. This strategy enhances nutrient stability and bioavailability while simplifying production. NuMOF technology represents a new class of dietary supplement with the potential to sustainably and affordably reduce micronutrient deficiencies, especially in low-resource settings.
Highlights
- NuMOF stabilizes iron and iodine for next-generation double-fortified salt
- Vitamin C enables Fe(II)-MOF synthesis under ambient, low-cost conditions
- NuMOF enhances micronutrient retention during cooking and storage
- In vivo and in vitro studies confirm improved bioavailability of iron and iodine
Summary
Fortifying salt with both iron and iodine remains a global challenge due to their incompatibility. We report a next-generation dual-fortified salt with enhanced bioavailability, simplified processing, and improved resistance to degradation, which, using nutrient metal-organic frameworks (NuMOFs), could realize elemental iodine stabilization without converting to iodide or iodate, significantly reducing the manufacturing cost and simplifying the process. In addition, we also developed a simple and cost-effective Fe(II) MOF synthesis strategy to enhance iron absorption by introducing vitamin C during synthesis, eliminating the need for expensive, energy-intensive anoxic conditions. In vitro and mouse studies demonstrate that NuMOFs retain significantly more iodine during boiling, oven heating, and light exposure, extend nutrient residence time in the digestive tract, and improve overall iron absorption efficiency. These findings demonstrate the potential of MOFs in developing efficient and sustainable food-fortification technologies to address global micronutrient deficiencies.
