Using a dynamic artificial digestive system to investigate heme iron nitrosylation during gastro-intestinal transit

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 281; pp. 231 - 235
• Main Authors: de La Pomélie, Diane, Santé-Lhoutellier, Véronique, Sayd, Thierry, Théron, Laetitia, Gatellier, Philippe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 30.05.2019; Elsevier
• Subjects: Ammonia - metabolism; Chemical and Process Engineering; Cooking; Digestive System - metabolism; Engineering Sciences; Food engineering; Gastrointestinal Transit; Heme - metabolism; Iron - metabolism; Life Sciences; Meat; Meat - analysis; Models, Biological; Myoglobin; Myoglobin - metabolism; Nitrates - metabolism; Nitrite; Nitrites - metabolism; Nitrosylation; Nitrosylheme; Myoglobin; Nitrosylation; Nitrite; Nitrosylheme; Meat; meat; nitrosylation; nitrosylheme; nitrite; mMyoglobin
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.12.094

•The digestive tract favors heme iron nitrosylation.•Ammonia oxidation in the digestive tract contributes to human exposure to nitrite.•The addition of nitrite to meat considerably increases endogenous nitrosylation.•Prior meat cooking significantly decreases the level of endogenous nitrosylation. The International Agency for Research on Cancer recently classified cured meats as carcinogenic for humans and red meats as probably carcinogenic. Mutagens can be formed during meat process or digestion. In a previous study, we used a dynamic artificial digestive system (DIDGI®) to investigate protein oxidation and N-nitrosation during bovine meat digestion. This new paper completes the previous one by focusing on the endogenous heme iron nitrosylation. Low nitrosylation due to nitrate initially present in meat and to ammonia oxidation in the stomach was observed in the digestive tract even in conditions in which no nitrite was added to the model. The endogenous addition of nitrite (1 mM) considerably increased heme iron nitrosylation while a significant decrease was observed with prior meat cooking (30 min at 60 and 90 °C).