Major minerals in food

Minerals often are grouped as major minerals and trace minerals. Human need more than 100 mgs per day of each major minerals.

Food sources of minerals are just as diverse. Although often associate mineral with animal foods, such as meats and milk, plant foods are important sources as well.

Plant foods can be excellent sources of several minerals, but the mineral content of plants can vary dramatically depending on the minerals in the soil where plats are found.

Some of the major minerals constituents, especially monovalent species, are present in foods as soluble salts and mostly in ionized form.

This applies, for example, to the cations sodium and potassium and the anions chloride.

Metals are often present in the form of chelates. Chelates are metal complexes formed by coordinate covalent bonds between a ligand and a metal cation; the ligand in a chelates two or more coordinate covalent binds to the metals.

Example of chelate ring system is chlorophyll. Other example of food components that can be considered metal chelates are hemoglobin and myoglobin, vitamin B12, and calcium caseinate.

Neither can minerals be destroyed by heat, air, acid or mixing, In fact, the ash that remains when a food is burned contains all the minerals that were in the food originally. Mineral can be lost from food only when they leach into cooking water that is then poured down the drain.

Major minerals are include: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, chloride, potassium and sulfur.
Major minerals in food