Characterisation of binding of iron to sodium caseinate and whey protein isolate

The fortification of dairy products with iron is an important approach to delivering iron in required quantities to the consumer. The binding of iron (ferrous sulfate) to two commercial milk protein products, sodium caseinate and whey protein isolate (WPI), dissolved in 50 mM HEPES buffer, was examined as a function of pH and iron concentration. Sodium caseinate had more sites (n = 14) than WPI (n = 8) for binding iron, and the affinity of caseinate to bind iron was also higher than that of WPI. These differences were attributed to the presence of clusters of phosphoserine residues in casein molecules, which are known to bind divalent cations strongly. The amount of iron bound to sodium caseinate was found to be independent of pH in the range 5.5–7.0, whereas acidification (pH range 7.0–3.0) caused a marked decrease in the amount of iron bound to WPI.