The Importance of Mineral Elements For Humans, Domestic Animals and Plants: A Review

African Journal of Food Science Vol. 4(5) pp.
200-222, May 2010

Available online http://www.academicjournals.org/ajfs
ISSN 1996-0794 2010 Academic Journals
Review Paper
The importance of mineral elements for humans,

domestic animals and plants: A review
1
K. O. Soetan *, C. O. Olaiya and O. E. Oyewole
Department of Veterinary Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo state,
Nigeria.
2
Department of Biochemistry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria.
3
Department of Health Promotion and Education, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria.
Accepted 12 February, 2010
Minerals are inorganic nutrients, usually required in small amounts from less than 1 to 2500 mg per day,
depending on the mineral. As with vitamins and other essential food nutrients, mineral requirements
vary with animal species. For example, humans and other vertebrates need large amounts of calcium
for construction and maintenance of bone and normal function of nerves and muscles. Phosphorus is
an important constituent of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and nucleic acid and is also essential for
acid-base balance, bone and tooth formation. Red blood cells can not function properly without iron in
haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying pigment of red blood cells. Iron is also an important component of
the cytochromes that function in cellular respiration. Magnesium, copper, selenium, zinc, iron,
manganese and molybdenum are important co-factors found in the structure of certain enzymes and
are indispensable in numerous biochemical pathways. Vertebrates need iodine to make thyroid
hormones. Sodium, potassium and chlorine are important in the maintenance of osmotic balance
between cells and the interstitial fluid. Magnesium is an important component of chlorophyll in plants.
The interactions between nutrition and diseases, nutrition and drug metabolism have been reported.
Excessive intake of some minerals can upset homeostatic balance and cause toxic side effects. For
example, excess sodium intake is associated with high blood pressure and excess iron can cause liver
damage. Also, severe shortages or self-prescribed minerals can alter the delicate balance in body
functions that promotes health. The knowledge of the biochemistry of the mineral elements is also
essential because individuals suffering from a chronic illness or taking medications that affect the
bodys use of specific nutrients need to be enlightened. The aim of this paper is to review the
biochemical functions and the importance of the mineral elements in health and disease conditions of
humans, animals and plants as this will assist in the prevention of nutrition-related diseases and
maintenance of good health for humans and animals that depend on plants for food. This paper could
also serve as a ready source of literature review for researchers involved in nutritional sciences.
Key words: Mineral elements, humans, animals, plants, nutrition.
INTRODUCTION
Minerals are inorganic substances, present in all body
tissues and fluids and their presence is necessary for the
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].
maintenance of certain physicochemical processes which

are essential to life. Minerals are chemical constituents
used by the body in many ways. Although they yield no
energy, they have important roles to play in many
activities in the body (Malhotra, 1998; Eruvbetine, 2003).
Every form of living matter requires these inorganic
Soetan
elements or minerals for their normal life processes

(Hays and Swenson, 1985; Ozcan, 2003). Minerals may
be broadly classified as macro (major) or micro (trace)
elements. The third category is the ultra trace elements.
The macro-minerals include calcium,
phosphorus,
sodium and chloride, while the micro-elements include
iron, copper, cobalt, potassium, magnesium, iodine, zinc,
manganese, molybdenum, fluoride, chromium, selenium
and sulfur (Eruvbetine, 2003). The macro-minerals are
required in amounts greater than 100 mg/dl and the
micro-minerals are required in amounts less than 100
mg/dl (Murray et al., 2000). The ultra trace elements
include boron, silicon, arsenic and nickel which have
been found in animals and are believed to be essential
for these animals. Evidence for requirements and
essentialness of others like cadmium, lead, tin, lithium
and vanadium is weak (Albion Research Notes, 1996).
The mineral elements are separate entities from the
other essential nutrients like proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and vitamins. Animal husbandry had demonstrated the need for minerals in the diet (Hegsted et al.,
1976). In this century, biological assay methods clarified
the significance and importance of mineral elements for
human and animal nutrition and modern analytical
techniques led to the detection of trace elements as
essential nutrients and this is still an active area of
current research.
Micronutrient deficiencies are a major public health
problem in many developing countries, with infants and
pregnant women especially at risk (Batra and Seth,
2002). Infants deserve extra concern because they need
adequate micronutrients to maintain normal growth and
development (Rush, 2000). The micronutrient deficiencies which are of greatest public health significance are
iron deficiency, causing varying degrees of impairment in
cognitive performance, lowered work capacity, lowered
immunity to infections, pregnancy complications e.g.
babies with low birth weight, poor learning capacity and
reduced psychomotor skills (Batra and Seth, 2002).
Medical reports show that very severe anaemia is a direct
cause of maternal and child mortality (Chakravarty and
Ghosh, 2000). There have been suggestions that more
than anything else, lack of adequate information about
the composition of varied feed resources in some regions
have been the major drawback to their utilization, rather
than real shortage (Aletor and Omodara, 1994). For
instance, there is very limited information on the mineral
elements in some plants used as human food and animal
feeds consumed in Nigeria, especially the newlyintroduced varieties of diets and the lesser known
legumes. Some of the earlier information on mineral
elements was based on analysis employing less sensitive
methods, which may not be reliable. The aim of this
review is to re-visit the provision of information on the
importance of mineral elements to humans, animals and
plants and also to emphasize on the need for their levels to
be ascertained in water and commonly consumed plant
foods using modern analytical techniques. This will assist
et
al.
201
greatly in providing relevant information on the importance

of minerals to health and this would subsequently assist in
prevention and management of mineral-associated
deficiency diseases. Data on mineral contents of human

foods and animal feeds are essential for formulation of
feeding regimes and food processing techniques.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MINERAL ELEMENTS
The importance of mineral elements in human, animal
and plant nutrition has been well recognized (Underwood,
1971; Darby, 1976). Deficiencies or disturbances in the
nutrition of an animal cause a variety of diseases and can
arise in several ways (Gordon, 1977). When a trace
element is deficient, a characteristic syndrome is produced which reflects the specific functions of the nutrient
in the metabolism of the animal. The trace elements are
essential components of enzyme systems. Simple or
conditioned deficiencies of mineral elements therefore
have profound effects on metabolism and
tissue
structure. To assess the dietary intake and adequacy of
minerals, information needs to be collected on mineral
element content of foods, diets and water (Rao and Rao,
1981; Simsek and Aykut, 2007). There is limited
information on the trace element content of water and
numerous plant foods consumed in some less developed
countries.
The significance of the mineral elements in humans,
animals and plants nutrition can not be overemphasized.
The presence of mineral elements in animal feed is vital
for the animals metabolic processes. Grazing livestock
from tropical countries often do not receive mineral
supplementation except for common salt and must
depend almost exclusively upon forage for their mineral
requirements (McDowell et al., 1984).
Mineral
deficiencies or imbalances in soils and forages account
partly for low animal production and reproductive
problems. Soil acidity and season are factors affecting
mineral uptake by plants. Plants use these minerals as
structural components in carbohydrates and proteins;
organic molecules in metabolism, such as magnesium in
chlorophyll and phosphorus in ATP; enzyme activators
like potassium, and for maintaining osmotic balance.
Calcium is highly implicated in the maintenance of
firmness of fruits (Olaiya, 2006) and its requirements in
fruits are related to cell wall stability and membrane
integrity (Belakbir et al., 1998). Mineral elements play
important roles in health and disease states of humans
and domestic animals. For example, iron deficiency
anaemia and goitre due to iodine deficiency are reported
to be problems of public health importance in some
communities (Partwardhan, 1961; Deosthale and
Belavady, 1978). Trace elements of significance to
people with HIV are zinc and selenium. Selenium is an
antioxidant that increases immune function. Zinc, usually
taken to stimulate the immune system, has been reported
to weaken immune system function and lower calcium
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African Journal of Food Science Vol. 4(5) pp.

200-222, May 2010

The importance of mineral elements for humans,

K. O. Soetan *, C. O. Olaiya and O. E. Oyewole

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].

maintenance of certain physicochemical processes which

elements or minerals for their normal life processes

foods using modern analytical techniques. This will assist

greatly in providing relevant information on the importance

deficiency diseases. Data on mineral contents of human

Thank you for using www.freepdfconvert.com service!

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