Answer
Minerals are inorganic chemicals that plants take up from the soil and which become components of the parts of plants that we use as food. Minerals enable us to use other nutrients; they also become parts of the matrix of certain tissues. The RDAs for minerals range from about 0.05 mg for chromium and selenium to 1200 mg for Calcium.
Minerals account for about 4% of the mass of the body. The most abundant body minerals are calcium and phosphorus which are constituents of bones and teeth. . Phosphorus is the basis of the phosphate buffer system and is an important component of nucleic acids, ATP, cAMP, GTP and creatine phosphate. Calcium, iron, magnesium and manganese serve as enzyme cofactors; iron transports and stores oxygen in hemoglobin and hemoglobin; chlorine is an important part of HCL in stomach acid, The electrolytes Na+, K+, Ca++, and Cl- are essential in electrical conduction in muscles and nerves. .They are also function in osmosis to regulate the distribution of water, and the concentration of solute ions intracellularly and extracellularly.
Work Step by Step
Calcium and phosphorus account for about 75% of the mass of minerals in the body; the following minerals occur in smaller amounts but they are no less important biochemically, and physiologically: sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, and sulfur, The trace minerals are iron, copper, fluorine, iodine, molybdenum, chromium, selenium and cobalt.
Sources of mineral nutrients:
The best sources of mineral nutrients are green vegetables, legumes, nuts, avocado,eggs, tofu, milk, fish, shellfish, and some meats-- lamb and beef. Unfortified cereals, and grains are poor sources of minerals
