THE COPPER CONTENT OF PLANT AND ANIMAL

FOODS.*

BY C. W. LINDOW, C. A. ELVEHJEM, AND W. H. PETERSON.

WITH THE COOPERATION OF H. E. HOWE.
(From the Department of Agricultural Chemistry, University of Wisconsin,.
Madison.)
(Receivedfor publication, March 25, 1929.)
In a recent paper (1) the importance of a complete assay of
copper in food materials was emphasized and an accurate quanti-

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tative method for the determination of this element in biological
materials was outlined. In this paper the copper content of
about 160 of our common food materials will be presented.
The information pertaining to the distribution of copper in
foods is extremely meager. The most numerous data on the sub-
ject are those supplied by Guerithault (2) of France, by Quar-
taroli (3) of Italy, and by McHargue (4) of this country.
The data presented here have an added interest becausethe an-
alyses were made on samples which had previously been analyzed
for iron (5, 6) and manganese (7). A comparison of the varia-
tions of all three elements in the same samples of food materials
is thus possible.

EXPERIMENTAL.
The preparation of the samples for analysis has already been
described in detail (6) and the procedure need not be recounted
here. The method used for the determination of copper was the
modified Biazzo method as outlined by Elvehjem and Lindow (1).
In Table I are given the moisture and copper content, calculated
both on the dry basis and the fresh basis, of 158 common food
* This work was aided by a grant from the Committee on Scientific Re-
search of the American Medical Association.
Published with the permission of the Director of the Wisconsin Agri-
cultural Experiment Station.
465
466 Copper Content of Foods
TABLE I.

Copper Content of Foods (Edible Portion).

CopPer Copper
content. content.
& Iois- IvIois-
Food: Food.*
t UPS. Dry Fresh t we. Dry Fresh
basis mate- basis mate-
(100”). rial. (100”). rial.
--- ---
per mg. WI. per mg. m!?.
:ent per kg. per kg. t:ent per kg. per kg.
Almonds ........... 3.9 12.6 12.1 Carrots.. ........... . ! JO.1 8.1 0.8
Apples, greening ... 32.5 4.6 0.8 Cauliflower.. ...... ! 31.4 16.5 1.4
‘I snow ....... 83.9 7.5 1.2 Celery.. ........... . !34.0 2.0 0.1
Apricots, dried ..... 40.7 6.2 3.7 Celery cabbage ... !34.3 10.4 0.6

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Artichoke .......... 84.4 20.1 3.1 Chard.. ........... . !31.5 13.2 1.1
Asparagus .......... 91.8 17.2 1.4 Cheese, American. 9 :32.3 2.6 1.8
Bananas ............ 75.4 a.5 2.1 “ Swiss ..... . ;33.2 2.0 1.3
Beans, kidney ...... 12.4 7.4 6.5 Cherries, red ...... . I88.0 11.7 1.4
“ Lima. ...... 12.3 9.8 8.6 Chestnuts, Italian . :34.5 9.2 6.0
“ navy (2) .... 14.2 8.0 6.9 Chocolate, bitter .. 1.9 27.2 26.7
“ string ....... 91.4 12.0 1.0 Cocoa.. ........... 4.5 35.0 33.4
Beef, brains ........ 82.6 12.0 2.1 Coconut.. ......... :39.3 11.4 6.9
‘I casmgs . ....... 81.1 8.4 1.6 Corn, sweet,
‘I kidney ....... 81.1 6.0 1.1 bantam .......... . I89.1 5.9 0.6
” liver (5) ...... 71.6 75.7 21.5 Corn, sweet,
“ lung .......... 80.3 11.4 2.2 evergreen ....... . 84.3 6.8 1.1
“ pancreas ..... 80.0 4.0 0.8 Corn Flakes ...... 6.2 2.0 1.9
I‘ spleen ........ 76.8 6.0 1.4 Corn-meal, white,
Beefsteak, round . 75.1 3.0 0.8 prepared.. ...... 6.2 2.0 1.9
“ T-bone. 74 .O 4.7 1.2 Corn-meal, yellow,
Beet greens, tops ... 90.3 9.3 0.9 prepared ........ 6.0 2.1 2.0
“ “ roots. 87.2 7.7 1.0 Cranberries ....... 88.5 7.8 0.9
Beets (2) ........... 83.5 11.5 1.9 Cream of Wheat ... 7.4 3.1 2.9
Blackberries. ..... 84.1 10.0 1.6 Cucumbers ........ 96.8 17.8 0.6
Blackcaps .......... 82.8 8.0 1.4 Currants.. ........ 32.7 16.6 11.2
Blueberries. ....... 81.3 6.0 1.1 Dandelion greens . . 88.3 13.1 1.5
Bran Flakes ...... 6.5 6.2 5.8 Dates, dried, ..... 27.5 5.3 3.8
Brazil nuts ........ 6.0 14.8 13.9 Eggs.. ............ 71.9 8.2 2.3
Bread, white ...... 35.0 5.2 3.4 Egg yolk.. ........ 49.5 8.0 4.0
Brussels sprouts ... 87.4 8.2 l.O’Eggplant.. ........ 92.5 13.6 1.0
Butternuts ........ 3.0 12.1 11.7 Figs, dried ........ 38.0 5.7 3.5
Cabbage ........... 92.6 6.8 0.5 Fish and sea foodr 1.
Calf, brains. ..... 76.8 7.5 1.8 Bass.. .......... 77.0 6.2 1.4
“ liver (6) ..... 73.2164.4 44.1 Bluefish.. ....... 76.7 10.0 2.3
Cantaloupe ........ 90.5 6.1 . 0.6 Catfish.. ........ 80.0 8.4 1.7
- -
*When more than one sample was analyzed, the number of samples is
indicated by the figure in parentheses.
 Lindow, Elvehjem, and Peterson 467
TABLE I-continued.
Copper Copper
content. content.
Food.’ Mois- Food.’ his-
ture. Dry Fresh ture. Dry Fresh
basis mate- 1 basis mate-
(lOO”)./ rial. / (100”). rial.
Per ww. w7. Per WJ. %I.
cent per kg. per kg. cent per kg. per kg.

Fish and sea foods Lettuce, leaf (2). 94.4 11.3 0.6
-Con&ued. Milk. ............. 87.5 1.2 0.15
Codfish ........... 81.7 29.8 5.5 Molasses .......... 26.2 26.2 19.3
Flounder ......... 80.0 7.3 1.5 Mushrooms ....... 71.2 61.7 17.9
Haddock ......... 78.8 13.4 2.8, Muskmelon, honey
dew .............

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Halibut .......... 67.3 7.1 2.3’ 89.4 6.5 0.7
Herring .......... 77.6 11.1 2.5’ Oatmeal ........... 6.4 5.4 5.0
Lobster .......... 81.1 38.8 7.3 I Ohves.............. 77.0 14.7 3.4
Mackerel ......... 77.6 15.4’ 3.4lOnions.. .......... 93.7 13.4 0.8
Oyster (2) ........ 87.5245.8 30.7 Oranges ........... 87.6 6.4 0.8
Perch ............ 80.4 18.7 3.7 Oyster plant ...... 76.6 11.4 2.7
Pickerel .......... 72.5 12.3 3.4 Parsley ............ 87.6 17.3 2.1
Pike .............. 80.2 8.5 1.7 Parsnips ........... 82.7 7.0 1.2
Red snapper ..... 79.2 7.6 1.6 Peaches, dried .... 37.4 6.3 2.7
Salmon .......... 75.7 7.8 1.9 Peanuts ........... 2.0 9.7 9.6
Scallops .......... 81.3 12.3 2.3 Pears .............. 83.9 6.3 1.0
Shad ............. 69.8 7.7 2.3 Peas, green ....... 75.2 9.8 2.4
Shrimp.. ......... 70.4 14.4 4.3 (‘ split ......... 9.5 15.5 14.0
Trout, lake ...... 70.9 10.3 3.3 Pecans ............ 2.3 13.9 13.6
Whitefish ......... 79.8 9.7 1.9 Peppers, green .... 94.0 16.1 1.0
Flour, buckwheat .. 9.0 7.7 7.0 Pineapple.. ....... 92.0 8.3 0.7
“ Graham ..... 6.5 5.2 4.9 Pistachio nuts., ... 4.0 12.2 11.7
‘I patent ...... 8.9 1.9 l.ri Plums, blue ....... 84.9 9.7 1.5
‘I rye .......... 6.4 4.4 4.2 Pork chops ........ 54.4 6.8 3.1
Gooseberries ....... 90.1 8.1 0.8 Potatoes., ........ 78.2 8.0 1.7
Grapes, Malaga .... 79.6 4.8 0.9 Potatoes, sweet ... 72.1 5.2 1.5
Grapefruit ......... 92.8 4.8 0.3 Poultry.
Grape juice ........ 96.0 5.3 0.2 Chicken, dark
Hazelnuts.. ........ 3.8 14.0 13.5 meat .......... 67.5 12.7 4.1
Hickory nuts ....... 2.9 14.7 14.3 Chicken, white
Hog, liver (5) ...... 68.7 20.8 6.5 meat .......... 76.6 11.5 2.7
Hominy ............ 7.5 2.0 1.9 Duck.. .......... 43.7 7.3 4.1
Honey .............. 18.2 2.5 2.0 Goose.. ......... 57.0 7.7 3.3
Kohlrabi ........... 90.7 15.0 1.4 Turkey, dark
Kumquats.. ........ 85.0 5.5 0.8 meat .......... 72.1 7.3 2.0
Lamb chops ........ 54.2 9.1 4.2 Turkey, white
Lemon.. ........... 96.0 10.2 0.4 meat. ......... 72.2 5.4 1.5
Lettuce, head ...... 96.6 11.61 0.4 Prunes, dried ..... 44.1 7.3 4.1
468 Copper Content of Foods
TABLE I-concluded.
Copper copper
content. content.
Food.’ Mois- Food: Mois-
ture. Dry Fresh ture. Dry Fresh
basis mate- basis mate-
(100”). Cal. (1OOO). rial.
~-- ---
Per w.
cent pe?ig. pev kg. c”,zt pii%,. ,lt%g.
Puffed Rice ......... 10.9 6.3 5.6 Spinach.. ......... 81.9 6.9 1.2
Puffed Wheat ...... 8.6 7.6 7.0 Squash, Hubbard .. 90.4 4.2 0.4
Pumpkin ........... 91.7 4.0 0.3 Strawberries ...... 90.3 1.9 0.2
Quince ............. 82.5 7.8 1.4 Tangerines ........ 86.0 6.2 0.9
Radishes ........... 94.4 28.7 1.6 Tomatoes (2). .... 94.2 9.9 0.6

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Raisins, seeded ..... 28.2 3.8 2.7 Turnips ........... 91.5 11.0 0.9
“ seedless ... 31.9 3.0 2.0 Veal chops ........ 72.6 9.1 2.5
Raspberries, red. .. 84.1 8.3 1.3 iwalnuts, English .. 3.3 10.3 10.0
Rhubarb ........... 94.4 9.5 0.5 Watercress ........ 92.5 5.3 0.4
Rice, polished ...... 9.5 2.1 1.9 Watermelon ....... 92.7 9.1 0.7
“ unpolished. .. 9.5 4.0 3.6 Wheat bran.. ..... 3.3 12.1 11.7
Rutabaga.s ......... 80.9 8.0 1.5 “ germ ...... 10.4 14.2 12.7
Shredded Wheat ... 8.1 6.7 6.2

materials. The figures range from 44.1 mg. of copper per kilo of
fresh calf liver to 0.1 mg. of copper per kilo of fresh celery. Within
these limits the various groups of foodstuffs in order of their aver-
age copper content per kilo of fresh material come as follows:
ten nuts, 11.6 mg.; four dried legumes, 9.0 mg.; nineteen cereals,
4.7 mg.; eight dried fruits, 4.2 mg.; four kinds of poultry, 3.0 mg.;
seventeen kinds of fish, 2.5 mg.; thirteen animal tissues, 1.7 mg.;
two green legumes, 1.7 mg. ; eleven roots, tubers, stalks, and bulbs,
1.4 mg.; fourteen leafy vegetables, 1.2 mg.; twenty-seven fresh
fruits, 1.0 mg.; ten non-leafy vegetables, 0.7 mg. The first four
groups owe their high rank largely to the low percentage of mois-
ture contained in these foods. In contrast to the conspicuous
place which they occupied as based on their iron content (6), the
green leafy vegetables come far down the series. It is rather
unexpected to find them surpassed in copper content by roots,
tubers, stalks, and bulbs.
A few individual foods are strikingly high in copper. Besides
calf liver, which has already been mentioned, oysters, chocolate,
cocoa, and molasses are conspicuously high in this element.
The same organ from animals of different age or species shows
 Lindow, Elvehjem, and Peterson
marked differences in copper content. Calf liver contains 2 times
as much copper as beef liver, and the latter contains 3 times as
much copper as hog liver. Because of these wide variations the
figures for liver were omitted in calculating the average for animal
tissue.

TABLE II.
Degree of Variation in Iron, Manganese, and Copper Content of Different
Classes of Food Materials.

Class. Minimum. Maximum.

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Iron in fresh material.

mg.
PW mg. per kg. mg. per kg.
kg.
Fresh fruits.. . . . . . , 23 6.6 2.3 Watermelon. 22.8 Grapes.
Nuts.. ... .. . ... 12 41.0 21.4 Walnut. 79.2 Pistachio nut.
Roots and tubers... 14 11.0 3.0 Onion. 23.6 Beets.
Vegetables, leafy.. 7 69.0 3.4 Cabbage. 192.1 Parsley.

Manganese in fresh material.

Fresh fruits.. . ... 13 4.0 0.2 Watermelon. 22.9 Blueberries.

Nuts.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 13.3 6.3 Pistachio. 18.0 Walnut.
Roots and tubers... 7 3.2 0.5 Onion. 13.5 Beets.
Vegetables, leafy.. . 8 6.6 0.8 Cabbage. 12.6 Beet greens, tops.

Copper in fresh material.

Fresh fruits.. . . . 27 1.0 0.2 Strawberries. 3.4 Olives.

Nuts.. . . 10 11.6 6.0 Chestnuts. 14.3 Hickory nuts.
Roots and tubers.. 11 1.4 0.8 Carrots. 2.7 Oyster plant.
Vegetables, leafy. . 14 1.2 0.4 Watercress. 3.1 Artichoke.

Unlike the data obtained for the iron content of salt water and
fresh water fish (6), the average figures for the copper content of
the two groups are practically the same.
One of the outstanding features of this series of analyses is the
low order of variation among samples of food materials that fall
in the same class. This fact becomes still more apparent when
470 Copper Content of Foods
the variations are compared with those of iron and manganese in
the same samples. In Table II figures are given for the variations
in iron, manganese, and copper of four different classes of foods.
In the class of leafy vegetables the iron content of the highest is
almost 60 times that of the lowest member. The maximum figure
for manganese is about 15 times the minimum, while the maxi-
mum figure for copper is only 8 times the minimum.
Because of the limited data available in the literature, it is
difficult to compare the results obtained by different workers.
However, it is worth noting that our figures compare favorably
with those of Guerithault (2) and Quartaroli (3) who have worked

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on a different continent and who have used different methods.
In some instances there is a wide variation, but the order of the
series is not generally disturbed. The copper content of twenty-
seven foods analyzed by Guerithault averaged 3.6 mg. per kilo
of fresh material, while the copper of the same materials analyzed
by us averaged 3.1 mg. per kilo. A similar comparison gave an
average of 14.1 mg. of copper per kilo of dry matter for eighteen
samples analyzed by Quartaroli and 10.4 mg. per kilo for the
same group reported here.

SUMMARY.

The copper content of about 160 samples of our common food

materials has been determined. The figures range from 0.1 mg.
of copper per kilo of fresh celery to 44.1 mg. per kilo of fresh calf
liver. The classes of foods in descending order of copper content
are as follows: nuts, dried legumes, cereals, dried fruits, poultry,
fish, animal tissues, green legumes, roots, etc., leafy vegetables,
fresh fruits, and non-leafy vegetables. The copper content of
leafy vegetables does not place them in the preeminent position
that they hold with reference to their iron content.
A wide variation was found in the copper content of livers from
different animals; calf liver was highest and hog liver was lowest.
The copper content of oysters proved to be strikingly high and
surpassed all the sea foods in this element.
The degree of variation in the copper content of foods falling
in the same class was less than that of either manganese or iron.
There is a wide distribution of copper in food materials, no
 Lindow, Elvehjem, and Peterson

food examined being without this element. Certain milled cereals,

such as polished rice and patent wheat flour, are very low in copper
as compared to the whole grain from which they were made.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1. Elvehjem, C. A., and Lindow, C. W., J. Biol. Chem., 81,435 (1929).

2. Guerithault, B., Bull. sot. hyg. aliment., 16,386 (1927).
3. Quartaroli, A., Ann. chim. appl., 18,47 (1928).
4. McHargue, J. S., Am. J. Physiol., 72,538 (1925); J. Am. Sot. Agron., 17,
368 (1925); J. Agric. Research, 30,193 (1925).
5. Elvehjem, C. A., and Peterson, W. H., J. Biol. Chem., 74,433 (1927).
6. Peterson, W. H., andElvehjem, C. A., J. Biol. Chem., 78,215 (1928).

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7. Lindow, C. W., and Peterson, W. H., J. Biol. Chem., 76,169 (1927).