Study of minerals bioavailability in goat cheese using different methods

Abstract

Goat cheeses have important nutritional properties, especially proteins, lipids (high digestibility) and essential minerals. Data on the assessment of the absorption estimates of essential elements such as calcium by in vitro tests with an emphasis on bioaccessibility in goat cheese are still unknown. Recently, the proposed standardized model reported by INFOGEST was adjusted. However, there are other options for the simulation of in vitro digestion in food, especially: dynamic, static models and the use of Caco-2 cells. The method proposed by INFOGEST depicts the physiological conditions found in the gastrointestinal tract in the fed state, the dynamic models simulate the stages of the human digestive tract (pH changes, peristaltic movements and secretion flow rates), whereas Caco-2 cells are based on the behavior of epithelial cells of the small intestine. In the light of the above, this project aims to use different in vitro digestion simulation tests to estimate the bioaccessibility of essential minerals such as calcium in cheeses of caprine origin and to compare the results obtained with the use of the proposed method by INFOGEST, a dynamic, static model (performed in the Brazilian laboratory), as well as the use of Caco-2 cells. With this, we intend to evaluate the effect of the tests, which present different complexities, cost and challenges. For our research group will be a breakthrough in the bioaccessibility of minerals in food. For the dairy and dairy goat production sector, it will be an important contribution to aggregating the value of these products, since the potential of calcium intake through the consumption of milks and dairy products, especially cheese, considered as having the best digestibility, when compared to cow products, will be clarified with the use of different tests. (AU)