Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Vol. LXVI, Issue 1
Written by Laura POP, Rui COSTA, Adrian ASĂNICĂ\, Liliana TUDOREANU
The “superberry” Aronia melanocarpa has attracted a lot of attention due to its high content of phenolic phyto-chemicals. However, little attention has been paid to its mineral content. The main objective of this paper is to review the mineral content of black chokeberry fruits, products and by-products, focusing on the health importance of mineral intake from food, against supplements. A lot of food databases and scientific publications demonstrated that comparing to fresh apples, fresh black chokeberry fruits contain high concentrations of minerals such as potassium (290.3 mg/100g) - which contributes to human health by regulating protein synthesis and the metabolization of carbohydrates - and copper (0.211 mg/100 g), zinc (0.147 mg/100 g), selenium (0.028 mg/100 g) - which act as antioxidants. The fresh Aronia melanocarpa berries also contain manganese, which is an essential micronutrient for plant growth and development. Nevertheless, excessive manganese accumulation in human’s body may lead to adverse effects like insomnia, memory loss, irreversible nerve damage. Few results have been found for manganese concentrations in black chokeberries (0.0829 mg/100 g dry weight) and in aronia juices (reported to vary between 0.298 ± 0.003 mg/100 g and 1.177 ± 0.005 mg/100 g). Therefore, extensive research conducted in this area is needed in order to identify and quantify the mineral concentrations of aronia fresh berries and products and to contribute to an advance knowledge of mineral content as a key role for healthy natural products. Additionally, the variability of the mineral's concentrations in the aronia fruits should be taken into consideration, as they are in direct relation with crop variety, soil characteristics, climate changes, fertilization and harvesting time.
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