Scientific journal

47 2008

Journal of Food and Nutrition Research
Summary No. 2 / 2008

KOREŇOVSKÁ, M. – SUHAJ, M.
Chemometric study of the contents of minerals and risk elements in some European hard cheeses
Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 47, 2008, No. 2, s. 68-76

Milan Suhaj, VÚP Food Research Institute, Department of Food Chemistry and Analysis, Priemyselná 4, SK - 824 75 Bratislava 26, Slovakia. E-mail: milan.suhaj@vup.sk, tel.: +421-2-50237146, fax: +421-2-55571417

Summary: Emmental and Edam cheeses originating from ten European countries were analysed regarding the contents of some minerals (Ca, Cu, K, Mg, Na) and risk elements (Cr, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, V) by atomic absorption spectrometry during two years of the production. The highest contents from the minerals were found for Ca (10 750 mg.kg-1) and for Cu (8.96 mg.kg-1) in Italian hard cheese samples, for K in Austrian hard cheese samples (2 588 mg.kg-1), for Mg in German hard cheese samples (715 mg.kg-1) and for Na in Czech hard cheese samples (10 225 mg.kg-1). The highest contents of inorganic trace elements Ba, Cr and Mn were observed in Slovakian hard cheeses, Hg in German hard cheeses, Mo in Austrian hard cheeses, Ni in Dutch hard cheeses and V in French hard cheeses. The highest correlations were found between the following elements: Ca – Mg (r = 0.822), Cu – Ni (r = 0.787) and K – Mo (r = 0.753). Similarities in the mineral composition of cheeses produced in European countries were visualised by principal component analysis. The Ca contents in the examined cheeses that were lower than some archived data confirmed the trend of the depletion of some minerals observed recently in some food commodities.

Keywords: mineral; risk elements; Emmental; Edam; cheese; chemometry

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