Inorganic Elements Determination for Algae/Spirulina Food Marketed in Taiwan
YIN-MAO HSU, JON-MAU HWANG AND TAUN-RAN YEH*
Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, P.O. Box 3-21, Lungtan, Taiwan, 32500
(Received : February 13, 2001 ; Accepted : June 11, 2001)
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine the inorganic elements in 8 commercial algae foods using INAA and ICP-AES methods. The results showed that the Na, Cl, and Al concentrations in green algae food are 1.5~7 times less than those in Spirulina food. Other heavy metal contents, including As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Cr, and Ni, were all within the allowed daily intake levels. The Spirulina food samples were found to contain more than 1 mg/g of As, which is the limitation level for green algae food samples, and one contained 15 mg/g of Pb. Since the concentrations of the inorganic elements in this study were not found to exceed the present regulation levels, they can be considered as safe food.
Key words: algae, Spirulina, inorganic element