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The metals copper, zinc, iron, and manganese are examples of metals that are essential for the normal functioning of most plants and the bodies of most animals, such as the human body. A few ( calcium , potassium , sodium ) are present in relatively larger amounts, whereas most others are trace metals , present in smaller but important amounts ...
Some metals are more abundant in nature, such as zinc (as Zn 2+), iron (as Fe 2+ and Fe 3+), and magnesium (as Mg 2+). Some trace elements are not metals, such as selenium. "Mineral" is jargon for compounds that contain metal ions, more specifically "inorganic nutrients, usually required in small amts. from less than 1 to 2500 mg per day". [5]
Finally, although mineral and elements are in many ways synonymous, minerals are only bioavailable to the extent that they can be absorbed. To be absorbed, minerals either must be soluble or readily extractable by the consuming organism. For example, molybdenum is an essential mineral, but metallic molybdenum has no nutritional benefit.
Bioinorganic chemistry is a field that examines the role of metals in biology.Bioinorganic chemistry includes the study of both natural phenomena such as the behavior of metalloproteins as well as artificially introduced metals, including those that are non-essential, in medicine and toxicology.
The remaining elements found in living things are primarily metals that play a role in determining protein structure. Examples include iron, essential to hemoglobin; and magnesium, essential to chlorophyll. Some elements are essential only to certain taxonomic groups of organisms, particularly the prokaryotes.
Therefore, life occurred around metals and not in response to their presence. Some evidence for this theory is that inorganic matter has self-contained attributes that life adopted as shown by life's compartmentalization. [2] Other evidence includes the ready binding of metals by artificial proteins without evolutionary history. [3]
Native element minerals are those elements that occur in nature in uncombined form with a distinct mineral structure. The elemental class includes metals, intermetallic compounds, alloys, metalloids, and nonmetals. The Nickel–Strunz classification system also includes the naturally occurring phosphides, silicides, nitrides, carbides, and ...
The scientific approach to food and nutrition arose with attention to agricultural chemistry in the works of J. G. Wallerius, Humphry Davy, and others.For example, Davy published Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, in a Course of Lectures for the Board of Agriculture (1813) in the United Kingdom which would serve as a foundation for the profession worldwide, going into a fifth edition.