Table Info

Table 3.

Levels of essential elements (mg/kg) in foods consumed by vegetarian populations

Food group	Food item	Cu				I				Mn				Mo				Se				Zn
Food group	Food item	Min	Max	Mean ± SD	% DRV	Min	Max	Mean ± SD	% DRV	Min	Max	Mean ± SD	% DRV	Min	Max	Mean ± SD	% DRV	Min	Max	Mean ± SD	% DRV	Min	Max	Mean ± SD	% DRV
Grains and grain-based products	Buckwheat	3.76	5.04	5.04 ± 0.06	31.5	-	-	< LOQ (0.010)	-	5.2	28	15.3 ± 0.4	51.1	0.113	0.77	0.48 ± 0.01	74.2	0.033	0.057	0.033 ± 0.001	4.69	19.9	27.9	21.5 ± 0.4	37.5
	Bulgur wheat			4.8 ± 0.3	29.9			0.0132 ± 0.0004	0.88			13.7 ± 0.3	45.8			0.58 ± 0.02	89.1			0.035 ± 0.001	4.94			22 ± 1	53.5
	Spelt flour			4.3 ± 0.2	26.8			< LOQ (0.010)	-			28 ± 1	92.9			0.77 ± 0.04	118			0.057 ± 0.003	8.18			27.9 ± 0.7	35.1
	Millet			3.76 ± 0.05	23.5			< LOQ (0.047)	-			5.2 ± 0.1	17.3			0.113 ± 0.003	17.5			0.035 ± 0.001	4.98			19.9 ± 0.3	29.3
Dairy products	Fresh semi-fat cow’s cheese	0.071	0.339	0.17 ± 0.02	1.04	0.144	0.534	0.28 ± 0.01	18.7	0.039	0.42	0.107 ± 0.009	0.36	0.021	0.079	0.079 ± 0.004	12.2	0.024	0.125	0.111 ± 0.006	15.9	2.77	15.9	15.9 ± 0.7	14.5
	Fresh low-fat cow’s cheese			0.179 ± 0.009	1.12			0.52 ± 0.02	34.9			0.122 ± 0.001	0.41			0.074 ± 0.005	11.5			0.091 ± 0.007	13.1			15.9 ± 0.2	14.5
	Fresh goat cheese			0.34 ± 0.03	2.12			0.534 ± 0.005	35.6			0.42 ± 0.02	1.40			0.021 ± 0.001	3.18			0.125 ± 0.003	17.9			14 ± 1	12.5
	Unsweetened natural Greek yogurt			0.071 ± 0.003	0.45			0.172 ± 0.003	11.5			0.039 ± 0.001	0.13			0.056 ± 0.001	8.67			0.027 ± 0.001	3.81			2.83 ± 0.08	2.57
	Greek yogurt with fruit			0.085 ± 0.005	0.53			0.144 ± 0.001	9.59			0.37 ± 0.01	1.24			0.074 ± 0.004	11.3			0.024 ± 0.001	3.43			2.77 ± 0.09	2.52
Products for non-standard diets	Miso	1.24	19.5	3.5 ± 0.1	22.1	0.027	0.114	< LOQ (0.047)	-	2.44	44	9.4 ± 0.3	31.2	0.124	4.11	4.11 ± 0.09	12.2	0.067	0.31	0.31 ± 0.01	44.8	2.2	52	12.6 ± 0.5	11.4
	Textured soy protein			19.5 ± 0.9	122			< LOQ (0.010)	-			44 ± 2	148			0.16 ± 0.01	11.5			0.142 ± 0.003	20.3			52 ± 4	46.9
	Soy yogurt			1.24 ± 0.05	7.72			< LOQ (0.010)	-			2.5 ± 0.1	8.28			0.199 ± 0.002	3.18			< LOQ (0.020)	1.78			2.2 ± 0.1	2.00
	Soy sausage			2.04 ± 0.05	12.8			0.027 ± 0.001	1.79			3.31 ± 0.05	11.1			0.229 ± 0.003	8.67			0.15 ± 0.01	21.5			6.3 ± 0.3	5.76
	Seitan			2.25 ± 0.01	14.1			0.114 ± 0.001	7.61			6.8 ± 0.1	22.5			0.124 ± 0.001	11.3			0.067 ± 0.001	9.56			12.97 ± 0.02	11.8
	Soy dessert			1.61 ± 0.03	10.1			< LOQ (0.010)	-			2.44 ± 0.04	8.12			0.59 ± 0.02	35.6			< LOQ (0.020)	2.01			3.29 ± 0.08	2.99
Pulses. dried fruits and oilseeds	Chia seeds	6.5	19.4	17.7 ± 0.5	111	-	-	< LOQ (0.010)	-	10.9	56	56 ± 2	186	0.025	5.4	0.557 ± 0.01	85.8	0.028	2.15	0.636 ± 0.003	90.9	24	63	63 ± 6	57.3
	Brazil nuts			18.6 ± 0.9	116			< LOQ (0.010)				12.1 ± 0.5	40.3			0.025 ± 0.001	3.91			2.15 ± 0.07	307			41 ± 2	37.2
	Pumpkin seeds			10.5 ± 0.2	65.7			< LOQ (0.047)				34 ± 1	115			1.77 ± 0.07	273			0.14 ± 0.01	19.6			41.2 ± 0.5	37.5
	Sunflower seeds			19.4 ± 0.3	122			< LOQ (0.047)				23.7 ± 0.3	79.0			0.29 ± 0.01	44.9			0.127 ± 0.007	18.2			58.8 ± 0.3	53.5
	Red lentils (dry)			8.4 ± 0.2	52.6			< LOQ (0.047)				10.9 ± 0.4	36.5			2.6 ± 0.1	404			0.166 ± 0.004	23.6			38.6 ± 0.8	35.1
	White bean			9.5 ± 0.6	59.1			< LOQ (0.047)				17 ± 1	56.3			4.1 ± 0.1	624			0.17 ± 0.01	24.1			32 ± 3	29.3
	Catarino bean			7.1 ± 0.2	44.5			< LOQ (0.047)				15.3 ± 0.3	50.9			1.11 ± 0.04	171			0.028 ± 0.002	3.98			27.3 ± 0.4	24.8
	Red bean			7.4 ± 0.4	46.2			< LOQ (0.047)				12.4 ± 0.2	41.5			5.4 ± 0.3	823			0.151 ± 0.006	21.6			29 ± 2	26.1
	Black-eyed pea			7.5 ± 0.1	47.0			< LOQ (0.047)				12.8 ± 0.2	42.8			1.22 ± 0.07	187			0.49 ± 0.03	70.6			34.2 ± 0.9	31.1
	Butter bean			6.5 ± 0.3	40.7			< LOQ (0.047)				13.9 ± 0.6	46.3			2.07 ± 0.04	319			0.085 ± 0.002	12.1			30 ± 1	27.6
	Black bean			7.7 ± 0.2	48.4			n.a.				13.2 ± 0.6	44.1			1.6 ± 0.2	248			0.088 ± 0.003	12.6			24 ± 2	21.7
Fruiting vegetables	Goji berries	-	-	7.9 ± 0.3	49.2	-	-	0.0179 ± 0.0002	1.19	-	-	8.1 ± 0.4	27.1	-	-	0.232 ± 0.008	35.6	-	-	0.032 ± 0.002	4.52	-	-	10.9 ± 0.4	9.93

% DRV: contribution of each foodstuff for the daily intake of micronutrients in percentage; LOQ: limit of quantification

Declarations

Acknowledgments

Strategic projects UIDB/04292/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04292/2020) and UIDP/04292/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDP/04292/2020) granted to MARE—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, and the project LA/P/0069/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0069/2020) granted to the Associate Laboratory ARNET—Aquatic Research Network.

The authors also thank the colleagues of INSA’s Department of Food and Nutrition, Ana Serôdio, Andreia Lopes, Elsa Vasco, and Maria Graça Dias, for defining the sample list and executing the collection of samples.

Author contributions

SG, AR, ID, MV: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. IC: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing, Supervision. All authors read and approved the submitted version.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

Consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent to publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

Data from the present manuscript will be made available upon request.

Funding

Not applicable.

Copyright

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