Mineral Composition of Leek

Abstract

Vegetables are considered to be a good source of dietary minerals. Leek is one of the most commonly consumed vegetables in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to examine the mineral matter content in leeks. The leek samples were harvested from different 11 locations around Samsun (Turkey) in December 2014. The mineral matter contents of the samples, were determined after digestion with 1:4 (v/v) concentrated perchloric acid-nitric acid by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The dry matter content of leek ranged between 7.98% and 14.77%. Potassium, calcium, phosphorous, sodium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper and selenium contents varied from 16533.87-32862.46 (23810.91±5295.29), 2491.08-5056.74 (3647.59±752.40), 1176.21-2199.20 (1787.36±253.61), 631.04-3775.57 (1639.92±1024.59), 671.79-1882.10 (1417.35±311.03), 21.35-138.81 (72.38±46.83), 17.65-128.60 (39.57±31.54), 4.45-25.62 (8.24±5.92) and 1.54-3.36 (2.55±0.51) ppm in dry weight, respectively. The results revealed that leek was especially rich in potassium, iron and selenium. Comparing obtained data with the data existing in literature, leek proved to be an important source of nutritive elements, and leek consumption can contribute to a well balanced diet.