Nutritional Properties, Minerals, and Selected Heavy Metal Contents in Herby Cheese Plants of Lamiaceae

Abstract

Ten of the most popular and well-known edible plant species from the Lamiaceae which are used in the production of herby cheese were examined to evaluate their nutritional properties, mineral, and heavy metal content. This study has revealed significant variations in the contents of minerals among the studied plant species. The most of plant samples were rich in some of the vital minerals such as Fe, Cu, Ca, K, Mn, and Zn, which are known to be important in health maintenance. Ziziphora capitata plant materials had the highest concentration of toxic heavy metals, including chromium (1.72 mg kg(-1)), where Mentha longifolia had the highest cobalt (1.14 mg kg(-1)). The results of this study suggest that the use of these plant species in herby cheese will not contribute to heavy metal toxicity, but may be useful in treating micronutrient deficiency.