An in vitro system for measuring intrinsic dietary mineral exchangeability: alternative to intrinsic isotopic labeling.

The primary purpose for the in vitro system described here was to provide an alternative method to intrinsic isotopic labeling for determining exchangeability of intrinsic food mineral with extrinsic inorganic mineral or one of its isotopes. In this system, foods or food mixtures extrinsically tagged with an isotope of the mineral of interest are incubated successively in media simulating peptic or pancreatic digestion. Radioactivity and mineral measurements are made on a)the mixture before digestion and after b)peptic and c)successive peptic pancreatic (P-Pa) digestion. Exchangeability is determined by comparing the specific activity in the peptic and P-Pa digest supernatants to that in the mixture before digestion. In addition, determination of the total soluble mineral after P-Pa digestion provides a measurement of potential bioavailability. The procedure was tested for calcium (Ca) exchangeability and bioavailability from a number of foods and food combinations with 45Ca as the tracer. It could be used for any mineral, however, including non-nutrient or toxic elements. It is likely to be most useful in association with human studies carried out with extrinsic stable (non-radioactive) or short-lived radioactive isotopes that are unsuitable for intrinsic labeling.