Preparation, Characterization, and In Vitro Stability Analysis of Deer Sinew Peptide-Zinc Chelate

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Nutritional Science
• Materials Science

Background:

• Zinc deficiency is a global health concern.
• Bioavailability and stability of zinc supplements are critical for efficacy.
• Deer tendon peptides (DSPs) offer a potential source for novel chelate development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize novel peptide-zinc chelates (DSPs-Zn) from deer tendon peptides.
• To investigate the chelation mechanism and stability of DSPs-Zn.
• To evaluate the potential of DSPs-Zn as a superior zinc nutritional supplement.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of DSPs-Zn under optimized conditions (pH 6, 60 °C, 60 min, 1:3 peptide-zinc ratio).
• Characterization using Ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).
• Amino acid analysis to identify key chelating residues.
• In vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion to assess stability.

Main Results:

• Novel DSPs-Zn synthesized with high zinc content (186.94 mg/g).
• UV and FTIR confirmed chelation at carboxyl oxygen and amino nitrogen atoms of DSPs.
• Aspartic acid, glutamic acid, lysine, and arginine identified as crucial for chelation.
• DSPs-Zn demonstrated significantly higher stability than zinc sulfate and zinc gluconate across a pH range of 2-8 and in simulated digestion.

Conclusions:

• DSPs-Zn represents a novel and stable form of zinc chelate.
• The chelation mechanism involves specific amino acid residues in DSPs.
• DSPs-Zn shows promising potential for development as an effective zinc nutritional supplement.