STLO researchers used the NERDT to validate its ability to reproduce the gastric digestion of skimmed milk, and to study in greater detail the gastric emptying of milk proteins into the small intestine. Unlike other digesters, which empty the stomach using pumps, gastric emptying here results from the flow properties of the food, as in humans.

In a manner comparable to that observed in vivo, the results show that:

• caseins, the major milk proteins, coagulate rapidly and are retained in the NERDT stomach.
• At the end of digestion, the progressive disintegration of casein particles under the combined action of pepsin, the gastric protease, and biomechanical contractions, enable the caseins to be evacuated from the stomach.

Digestion of milk in the NERDT artificial digester, and electrophoretic monitoring of digestion of the main milk proteins: caseins and serum proteins.

This study demonstrates that NERDT can be used to reproduce physiologically realistic digestion conditions, and illustrates the great potential of this new tool to improve our knowledge of the digestion behavior of complex foods such as milk.

Collaboration

Laboratoire International Associé (LIA) ‘Foodprint’ with University of Soochow (China)

Read more

Feng, J., Greco, I., Ménard, O., Lee, J., Jeantet, R., Dupont, D., & Le Feunteun, S. (2024). Dynamic in vitro gastric digestion of skimmed milk using the NERDT, an advanced human biomimetic digestion system. Food Research International, 195, 114898. DOI : 10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114898

Contact

steven.le-feunteun@inrae.fr