Advancing food fortification with kinetics: Stabilizing vitamin D₃ through calcium carbonate-based vehicles

The addition of vitamin D₃ in food products is an important health strategy. The vitamin D is heat, moisture, oxidation and pH sensitive. Given the complexity and diversity of food matrices, the use of various encapsulation strategies can more effectively address the need for vehicle system, that ensure the long-term chemical and physical stability of vitamin D. Calcium carbonate-based vehicle, modified with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and D-α-tocopherol succinate, were synthesized and loaded with vitamin D₃ (D₃/X/CaCO₃). The vehicle has a form of beadlet designed to protect vitamin D₃. The obtained nanostructured D₃/X/CaCO₃ demonstrated the desirable characteristics for powdered food matrix-vitamin D based, such as: enhanced thermal stability of vitamin D₃, efficient loading, and an extended shelf-life. A detailed analysis of the physicochemical behavior of vitamin D, both structurally and kinetically, was provided presenting the fully functionalized pre-food model systems. The proposed kinetic perspective could serve as a roadmap for vitamin D₃ stability.