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In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element. Some "minerals" are essential for life, but most are not. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Minerals are one of the four groups of essential nutrients; the others are vitamins , essential fatty acids , and essential amino acids . [ 4 ]
A mineral's hardness is a function of its structure. Hardness is not necessarily constant for all crystallographic directions; crystallographic weakness renders some directions softer than others. [70] An example of this hardness variability exists in kyanite, which has a Mohs hardness of 5 1 ⁄ 2 parallel to but 7 parallel to . [71]
Micronutrients are nutrients such as vitamins and minerals required by organisms in varying quantities throughout life to orchestrate a range of physiological functions to maintain health. [1] [2] The following is a list of micronutrients used by various living organisms. For human-specific nutrients, see Mineral (nutrient).
Plants tend not to use vitamins, although minerals are required. [8] [21] Structure of the Mn 4 O 5 Ca core of the oxygen-evolving site in plants, illustrating one of many roles of the trace mineral, manganese. [22] Some seven trace elements are essential to plant growth, although often in trace quantities. [citation needed]
A large fraction of the chemical elements that occur naturally on the Earth's surface are essential to the structure and metabolism of living things. Four of these elements (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen) are essential to every living thing and collectively make up 99% of the mass of protoplasm. [1]
Vitamins and minerals are essential to the proper functioning and maintenance of the human body. [114] There are 20 trace elements and minerals that are essential in small quantities to body function and overall human health. [114] Iron deficiency is the most common inadequate nutrient worldwide, affecting approximately 2 billion people. [115]
Fossil skeletal parts from extinct belemnite cephalopods of the Jurassic – these contain mineralized calcite and aragonite.. Biomineralization, also written biomineralisation, is the process by which living organisms produce minerals, [a] often resulting in hardened or stiffened mineralized tissues.
Minerals are the exogenous chemical elements indispensable for life. Although the four elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen are essential for life, they are so plentiful in food and drink that these are not considered nutrients and there are no recommended intakes for these as minerals. The need for nitrogen is addressed by ...