The Contents of Some Essential Major and Trace Elements in Various Types of Processed Milk Products Collected from Benghazi Markets

Milk is an important food; it supplies our body with the essential mineral’s requirements. In this study, some major (Calcium, magnesium, phosphorus) and minor (copper, iron, zinc) essential minerals were determined in seventy-eight random processed milk samples. These samples were collected from different markets in Benghazi city, Libya during 2017. The order of major essential elements concentrations in all milk samples was calcium> phosphorous> magnesium. The mean concentrations of calcium were recorded at 4262 ±2771mg/kg, 5006 ±896mg/kg, 1276 ±319mg/kg and 1231 ±154mg/kg, while mean concentrations of magnesium were 560.1 ±82mg/kg, 419.4 ±153mg/kg, 249 ±7.1mg/kg, 127.7 ±21mg/kg, in powdered, infant formula, evaporated and sterilized milk samples, respectively. Phosphorus concentration varied between 3322-7692mg/kg, 2622-5490mg/kg, 1381-4720mg/kg and 1049-2326mg/kg in powdered, infant formula, evaporated and sterilized milk, respectively. The contents of trace essential minerals, included copper, iron and zinc, were detected in all collected samples. The highest copper content was recorded in powder milk, with a mean concentration 2.13 ±0.84mg/kg, followed by infant formula products, with mean concentration 1.15±0.95mg/kg. The mean concentrations of zinc and iron in milk powder products were detected at 33.48 ±17.4mg/kg and 27.60mg/kg, respectively. The concentration of minor element in evaporated and sterilized milk samples were in concentration lower than 1mg/kg, except zinc in evaporated milk, which varied between 2.80-5.77mg/kg. The contents of essential minerals were agreed with some values that recorded in published results, for same products of processed milk.