Determining Calcium Bioavailability Using Caco-2 Cells

Calcium plays an important role in prevention of chronic diseases and in critical biological functions; however, not only must the calcium content in foods be known, but also its bioavailability. This chapter discusses the usefulness of Caco-2 culture cells as an in vitro method for evaluating calcium bioavailability in foods. Structural and functional characteristics of this cell culture, beside some methodological aspects of Caco-2 cell assays, and calcium-absorption mechanisms are reported. In particular, the effect of food components upon the bioavailability of calcium, as well as its influence upon iron absorption is discussed in this chapter.