Table 2.
Mineral composition of the fresh, oven-dried, and freeze-dried S. ramosissima.
| Sample | Fresh (fw) |
Oven-Dried (dw) |
Freeze-Dried (dw) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Macro-elements (mg/g) ab | |||
| Sodium (Na) | 22.50 ± 2.90 | 147.01 ± 14.85 a | 114.02 ± 19.11 a |
| Calcium (Ca) | 0.32 ± 0.03 | 0.237 ± 0.003 b | 0.312 ± 0.002 a |
| Potassium (K) | 1.05 ± 0.22 | 0.409 ± 0.003 a | 0.411 ± 0.002 a |
| Micro-elements ( µg/g) ab | |||
| Iron (Fe) | 37.00 ± 0.5 | 45.025 ± 0.347 b | 73.145 ± 0.442 a |
| Manganese (Mn) | 2.30 ± 0.32 | 4.581 ± 0.104 a | 2.830 ± 0.056 b |
| Zinc (Zn) | 6.20 ± 0.90 | 14.249 ± 0.143 a | 13.727 ± 0.094 a |
| Copper (Cu) | 1.20 ± 0.10 | 2.507 ± 0.045 a | 2.270 ± 0.037 a |
| Selenium (Se) | <0.02 * | <0.02 * | <0.02 * |
| Iodine (I) | <0.13 * | <0.03 * | <0.03 * |
| Heavy metals (µg/g) ab | |||
| Arsenic (As) | 0.15 ± 0.04 | 0.264 ± 0.015 a | 0.273 ± 0.019 a |
| Cadmium (Cd) | 0.010± 0.001 | <0.10 * | <0.10 * |
| Mercury (Hg) | <0.03 * | <0.03 * | <0.03 * |
| Lead (Pb) | 0.18 ± 0.02 | 1.525 ± 0.028 a | 1.508 ± 0.037 a |
* (LOD, limit of detection µg/g). a Data are expressed as means values ± standard deviation (n = 3). b The letters correspond to the statistical analysis performed to calculate the existence of a significant difference between both drying methods by the unpaired t-test (p < 0.05).