Elderberry Stalks as a Source of High-Value Phytochemical: Essential Minerals and Lipophilic Compounds

Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) consumption has been growing in the last years, generating a large number of stalks (~10% of the berries bunch) that are still under-valorized. This study focused on the evaluation of elderberry stalks as a source of high-value phytochemicals. In this vein, the essential mineral content and lipophilic composition were analyzed for the first time. In addition, the polar fraction was evaluated regarding its total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity by both 2,2-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl hydrate (DPPH) assays. The lipophilic fraction was mainly composed of triterpenic acids (2902.20 mg kg−1 of dry weight (dw)), fatty acids (711.73 mg kg−1 dw) and sterols (288.56 mg kg−1 dw). Minor amounts of long-chain aliphatic alcohols and other components were also detected. Ursolic acid (2265.83 mg kg−1 dw), hexadecanoic acid (219.85 mg kg−1 dw) and β-sitosterol (202.74 mg kg−1 dw) were the major lipophilic components verified. The results of this study also indicated that elderberry stalks might be used as a natural source of essential minerals, particularly calcium, iron and potassium, which are known to play important roles in various body functions. The analysis of the polar fraction also showed that elderberry stalks present TPC as high as elderberry themselves as well as considerable antioxidant activity (1.04 and 0.37 mmol TE g−1 of extract, against respectively ABTS and DPPH radicals). These results highlight the potential of elderberry stalks as a natural source of high-value phytochemicals that may be explored in several fields.

An Overview of Rare Earth Ores Beneficiation in Vietnam

Rare earth metals are used in electricity, electronics, nuclear, optics, space, metallurgy,superconducting and super magnetic materials, glass and ceramics, and agriculture. Some rare earthelements are added to fertilizers for crops and some trials for animal feed. Rare earth elements, exceptfor radioactive promethium, are relatively abundant in the earth's crust. Vietnam has a tremendous rareearth potential, distributed mainly in the Northwest, including Nam Xe, Dong Pao, Muong Hum, andYen Bai. There are many research projects on rare earth ores of different types globally, but the focus ismainly on the essential minerals, including monazite, xenotime, and bastnaesite. This report summarizesresearch data on rare earth ore intending to produce a general assessment of rare earth ore and itsbeneficiation technology in Vietnam.

Ecological Potentiality of Plankton: A Perspective on Nutrition, Toxicity and Bio-Indication

The base of aquatic energy is initiated and concreted by plankton such as primary photosynthetic algae and consequently their immediate secondary grazers as zooplankton. The nutritional features of algae or phytoplankton are controlled by aquatic nutrients (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus, silica and other essential minerals). Moreover, the biochemical content of zooplankton reflects their diet profiles (e.g. bacteria and algae). The promising and sustainable fisheries prospects are crucially subjective by nutritional quality and quantity of plankton (e.g. algal bloom). Additionally, both algae and zooplankton are efficient as auspicious biological tools for indicating the aquatic environments.

A Comprehensive Review of Nutritional Benefits of Minerals in Meat and Meat Products

Minerals are chemical elements that organisms require as a necessary nutrient to sustain good health at various stages of life. To support human biochemical processes, including structural and functional activity in the body, at least twenty mineral elements are required. However, inadequate consumption of these essential minerals in the human diet can result in metabolic problems, organ damage, chronic diseases, and death. Mineral deficiency affects roughly two billion people globally, the bulk of whom live in third-world nations. Among those, infants and pregnant women are more susceptible to the mineral shortage in the body. To avoid these deficiencies, humans need to consume muscle foods, which are superior sources of essential minerals, particularly zinc, selenium, phosphorus, iron, etc. compared to plant-based foods. Minerals derived from muscle foods are easier to absorb in the body than minerals derived from plant foods. However, the amount of essential minerals in muscle foods varies widely and depends on several factors, including nutrition, species, breed, sex, age at slaughter, muscle types, physiological status, production system, and post-mortem factors such as processing and analytical methods. The present study discusses the mineral composition of different muscle foods, factors affecting the mineral contents in different muscle foods and the beneficial and important roles that minerals play in human health.

Evidence-Based Recommendations for an Optimal Prenatal Supplement for Women in the U.S., Part Two: Minerals

The levels of many essential minerals decrease during pregnancy if un-supplemented, including calcium, iron, magnesium, selenium, zinc, and possibly chromium and iodine. Sub-optimal intake of minerals from preconception through pregnancy increases the risk of many pregnancy complications and infant health problems. In the U.S., dietary intake of minerals is often below the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), especially for iodine and magnesium, and 28% of women develop iron deficiency anemia during their third trimester. The goal of this paper is to propose evidence-based recommendations for the optimal level of prenatal supplementation for each mineral for most women in the United States. Overall, the evidence suggests that optimal mineral supplementation can significantly reduce a wide range of pregnancy complications (including anemia, gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, hyperthyroidism, miscarriage, and pre-eclampsia) and infant health problems (including anemia, asthma/wheeze, autism, cerebral palsy, hypothyroidism, intellectual disability, low birth weight, neural tube defects, preterm birth, rickets, and wheeze). An evaluation of 180 commercial prenatal supplements found that they varied widely in mineral content, often contained only a subset of essential minerals, and the levels were often below our recommendations. Therefore, there is a need to establish recommendations on the optimal level of mineral supplementation during pregnancy.

Vitamin-mineral supplements do not guarantee the minimum recommendations and may imply risks of mercury poisoning in dogs and cats

Given the importance of using the vitamin-mineral supplements to guarantee the minimum nutritional recommendations for pets in homemade foods, and hypothesizing that these products may contribute to toxic metals contamination, the present study aimed to determine the concentrations of essential minerals and toxic metals in vitamin-mineral supplements available in the Brazilian market and calculate if the amount recommended by the manufacturer guarantees the minimum recommendations of NRC (2006) and FEDIAF (2020), as well as calculating the amount of toxic metals that animals would consume, according to the amounts recommended by the manufacturer. Seven vitamin-mineral supplements were analyzed. The determination of essential minerals and toxic metals was performed using ICP-OES. Comparisons were made with the minimum recommendations for essential minerals, and with the maximum tolerated levels of toxic metals established by the FDA (2011), descriptively. Most of the vitamin-mineral supplements, in the quantities recommended by the manufacturers, do not guarantee the minimum recommendations of NCR (2006) and FEDIAF (2020) for the following elements: calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc. Only one supplement had detectable selenium concentrations. Three supplements provided more than 0.02mg of mercury/kg of body weight, the safe upper limit used to establish the maximum tolerated level of this element. It is concluded that most vitamin-mineral supplements do not meet the minimum recommendations for most essential minerals and, if formulated by untrained professionals, even with supplementation, homemade foods may still be nutritionally deficient. Furthermore, some vitamin-mineral supplements analyzed may imply risks of mercury poisoning in pets.