Mineral salts

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Mineral salts are used synonymously with minerals in nutritional science . There they designate various inorganic nutrients . If mineral salts are dissolved in water, electrically conductive solutions are formed, which are also called electrolytes .

In a broader sense (chemistry, geology), mineral salts are understood to mean all naturally occurring inorganic salts , including those that are not nutritionally important. See also: minerals .

Use of language

In the chemical sense, salts consist of at least two ions , e.g. B. with table salt (sodium chloride) from sodium cations and chloride anions .

In nutritional linguistic usage, sometimes only the constituents relevant to the human body are mentioned (" iodine ", " calcium ") and specified as minerals - but this does not reflect the chemically underlying facts correctly, since it is not about the elementary substances, but about the ions of the elements that have a completely different physiological meaning (elemental iodine, for example, is poisonous, whereas iodide ions are important for hormone production in the thyroid).

In contrast to the language used in chemistry, where mineral salts are always inorganic compounds, organic salts (such as sodium citrate ) are sometimes also referred to as mineral salts in nutritional science .

The importance of mineral salts for the growth of the plant was not recognized until 1828 by the chemist and economist Carl Sprengel and in 1840 by the chemist Justus von Liebig . He examined the ashes of various plants and found numerous minerals in them in varying amounts. The minerals are absorbed by the plants in the form of ions from the soil. They are vital components of food. They are formed by weathering from rock and accumulate z. B. in mineral springs and the mineral water obtained from them. They are salts that mainly contain potassium, calcium and magnesium as cations . The anions of the salts usually contain the elements nitrogen (nitrate), phosphorus (phosphate), carbon ( hydrogen carbonate ) and oxygen ( nitrate , phosphate , hydrogen carbonate).

Classification

A distinction is made between so-called micro-elements (trace elements such as fluorine, bromine-iodine, iron, copper, manganese, cobalt, zinc, vanadium, selenium) which, as ions, have predominantly catalytic functions and the macro-elements, which are required in much larger quantities and are therefore much more common in the human body (Calcium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, magnesium, chlorine), which are essential as ionic components of the skeleton. The human organism contains an average of 3.5 kg of minerals that are left behind as residue when the body is incinerated.

Therapeutic use

Wilhelm Heinrich Schüßler (1821–1898) worked as a doctor in Oldenburg and founded the "biochemical healing method", a therapy with the so-called Schüßler salts . These are twelve inorganic compounds (calcium fluoride, calcium sulfate, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, potassium phosphate, sodium chloride, sodium sulfate, sodium phosphate, magnesium phosphate, iron phosphate, silicic acid), which were used in homeopathic trituration with lactose, usually in the so-called 6th potency.

Individual evidence

  1. a b Otto-Albrecht Neumüller (Ed.): Römpps Chemie-Lexikon. Volume 4: M-Pk. 8th revised and expanded edition. Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-440-04514-5 , p. 2624.