Entoferritin: An innovative iron source for human consumption

Abstract

The high prevalence of iron deficiency in humans, alongside the lack of sustainable iron sources call for alternatives. Although understudied, edible insects are high in potentially bioavailable iron. Insect ferritin is thought to make insect-based iron bioavailable (entoferritin). This review examined the use of entoferritin as an iron supplement based on its properties and comparison to mammalian and plant ferritins. Entoferritin is a large, soluble, iron-affine transporting protein complex. These features enable mild entoferritin purification. These purifying methods may not affect other products due to the common structure of edible insect processing chains. The protein complex can accumulate an abundance of bioavailable iron and be absorbed through a human endocytosis mechanism. However, insect ferritin delivery systems into the human iron pool, bioavailability and safety have various possible limits and require further exploration. This paper suggests that entoferritin could help the valorization of edible insects and fight iron deficiency.

Keywords

• Insect ferritin
• Entoferritin
• Edible insects
• Iron deficiency
• Iron bioavailability
• Nonheme-protein based iron