CHAPTER 2 

 LITERATURE REVIEW 



Definitions of Trace Mineral Sources 



There are many organic mineral sources . The natural 

 organic mineral sources are those present in the environment. 

 A mineral chelate is a metal complex in which the metal atom 

 is held through more than one point of attachment to a ligand, 

 with the metal atom occupying a central position in the metal 

 complex (Morgan and Drew, 192 0) . Natural chelators are widely 

 distributed in all living systems in nature. Some examples of 

 mineral chelating agents include water, carbohydrates, 

 proteins, amino acids, lipids, and nucleic acids. 



Depending on the bond strength of the resulting compound 

 or the ligand, it can then be classified as a chelate, 

 complex, proteinate, or other moiety (Nelson, 1988). A list 

 of these definitions is available (Kincaid, 1989) . A 

 proteinate is a product resulting from the chelation of a 

 soluble salt with amino acids or partially hydrolyzed protein. 

 A metal amino acid complex is a product resulting from the 

 reaction of a metal ion from a soluble metal salt with a known 

 amino acid. 



