Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) ferritin should be a promising Fe²⁺ nanocarrier

Ferritin, one of the storage forms of iron, which widely exists in all living organisms and shows its potential as functional nanomaterial. In this study, Fe²⁺ were added to oyster ferritin (GF1) in vitro until reached experimental saturation state. The structure characterization and monodisperse morphology of ferritin were showed that the protein structure of ferritin did not change significantly after adding Fe²⁺ and GF1 with 1000 Fe²⁺ (GF1-1000 Fe²⁺) was selected for subsequent experiments. The storage stability results showed that 11.27 % of the protein remained cage-like structure when GF1-1000 Fe²⁺ was stored at 4 °C for 12 days. The thermal treatment results showed that GF1-1000 Fe²⁺ still maintained certain structure and activity at 80 °C, and 82.8 % of Fe²⁺ was still retained at 80 °C. These experimental results may provide a theoretical basis for the development of novel iron supplement that are non-toxic and highly stable.