Ferrous nutritional metal-organic framework as food fortificant

Fortifying salt with both iron and iodine remains a global challenge due to their incompatibility. We report a next-generation dual-fortified salt with enhanced bioavailability, simplified processing, and improved resistance to degradation, which, using nutrient metal-organic frameworks (NuMOFs), could realize elemental iodine stabilization without converting to iodide or iodate, significantly reducing the manufacturing cost and simplifying the process. In addition, we also developed a simple and cost-effective Fe(II) MOF synthesis strategy to enhance iron absorption by introducing vitamin C during synthesis, eliminating the need for expensive, energy-intensive anoxic conditions. In vitro and mouse studies demonstrate that NuMOFs retain significantly more iodine during boiling, oven heating, and light exposure, extend nutrient residence time in the digestive tract, and improve overall iron absorption efficiency. These findings demonstrate the potential of MOFs in developing efficient and sustainable food-fortification technologies to address global micronutrient deficiencies.