THE

COPPER

CONTENT
OF PLANT
FOODS.*

BY C. W. LINDOW,

C.

A. ELVEHJEM,

AND

ANIMAL

AND W. H. PETERSON.

WITH THE COOPERATION OF H. E. HOWE.

(From the Department

of

Agricultural
Chemistry,
Madison.)

University of Wisconsin,.

(Receivedfor publication, March 25, 1929.)

EXPERIMENTAL.

The preparation of the samples for analysis has already been

described in detail (6) and the procedure need not be recounted
here. The method used for the determination of copper was the
modified Biazzo method as outlined by Elvehjem and Lindow (1).
In Table I are given the moisture and copper content, calculated
both on the dry basis and the fresh basis, of 158 common food
* This work was aided by a grant from the Committee on Scientific Research of the American Medical Association.
Published with the permission of the Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station.
465

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In a recent paper (1) the importance of a complete assay of

copper in food materials was emphasized and an accurate quantitative method for the determination of this element in biological
materials was outlined.
In this paper the copper content of
about 160 of our common food materials will be presented.
The information pertaining to the distribution of copper in
foods is extremely meager. The most numerous data on the subject are those supplied by Guerithault (2) of France, by Quartaroli (3) of Italy, and by McHargue (4) of this country.
The data presented here have an added interest becausethe analyses were made on samples which had previously been analyzed
for iron (5, 6) and manganese (7). A comparison of the variations of all three elements in the same samples of food materials
is thus possible.

Copper Content

466

TABLE

Copper

Content

of Foods

of Foods
I.

(Edible

Portion).

CopPer
content.
& Ioist UPS.

Food:

per
:ent

Fresh
material.

Food.*

mg.
WI.
per kg. per kg.

3.9 12.6
32.5 4.6
83.9 7.5
40.7 6.2
84.4 20.1
91.8 17.2
75.4 a.5
12.4 7.4
12.3 9.8
14.2 8.0
91.4 12.0
82.6 12.0
81.1 8.4
81.1 6.0
71.6 75.7
80.3 11.4
80.0 4.0
76.8 6.0
75.1 3.0
74 .O 4.7
90.3 9.3
87.2 7.7
83.5 11.5
84.1 10.0
82.8 8.0
81.3 6.0
6.5 6.2
6.0 14.8
35.0 5.2
87.4 8.2
3.0 12.1
92.6 6.8
76.8 7.5
73.2164.4
90.5 6.1

--- --per
t:ent

12.1 Carrots.. ........... .

0.8 Cauliflower.. ......
1.2 Celery.. ...........
.
3.7 Celery cabbage ...
3.1 Chard.. ...........
.
1.4 Cheese, American. 9
2.1
Swiss ..... .
6.5 Cherries, red ...... .
8.6 Chestnuts, Italian .
6.9 Chocolate, bitter ..
1.0 Cocoa.. ...........
2.1 Coconut.. .........
1.6 Corn, sweet,
1.1
bantam .......... .
21.5 Corn, sweet,
2.2
evergreen ....... .
0.8 Corn Flakes ......
1.4 Corn-meal, white,
0.8
prepared.. ......
1.2 Corn-meal, yellow,
0.9
prepared ........
1.0 Cranberries .......
1.9 Cream of Wheat ...
1.6 Cucumbers ........
1.4 Currants.. ........
1.1 Dandelion greens . .
5.8 Dates, dried, .....
13.9 Eggs.. ............
3.4 Egg yolk.. ........
l.OEggplant..
........
11.7 Figs, dried ........
0.5 Fish and sea foodr 1.
1.8
Bass.. ..........
44.1
Bluefish.. .......
. 0.6
Catfish.. ........

*When more than one sample was analyzed,

indicated by the figure in parentheses.

! JO.1
! 31.4
!34.0
!34.3
!31.5
:32.3
;33.2
I88.0
:34.5

1.9
4.5
:39.3

Dry
basis
(100).

Fresh
material.

mg.
m!?.
per kg. per kg.

8.1 0.8
16.5 1.4
2.0 0.1
10.4 0.6
13.2 1.1
2.6 1.8
2.0 1.3
11.7 1.4
9.2 6.0
27.2 26.7
35.0 33.4
11.4 6.9

I89.1

5.9

0.6

84.3
6.2

6.8
2.0

1.1
1.9

6.2

2.0

1.9

6.0
88.5
7.4
96.8
32.7
88.3
27.5
71.9
49.5
92.5
38.0

2.1 2.0
7.8 0.9
3.1 2.9
17.8 0.6
16.6 11.2
13.1 1.5
5.3 3.8
8.2 2.3
8.0 4.0
13.6 1.0
5.7 3.5

77.0 6.2
76.7 10.0
80.0 8.4

1.4
2.3
1.7

the number of samples is

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Almonds ...........
Apples, greening ...
I
snow .......
Apricots, dried .....
Artichoke ..........
Asparagus ..........
Bananas ............
Beans, kidney ......

Lima. ......

navy (2) ....

string .......
Beef, brains ........
I casmgs
. .......
I kidney .......
liver (5) ......
lung ..........
pancreas .....
I spleen ........
Beefsteak, round .

T-bone.
Beet greens, tops ...

roots.
Beets (2) ...........
Blackberries. .....
Blackcaps ..........
Blueberries. .......
Bran Flakes ......
Brazil nuts ........
Bread, white ......
Brussels sprouts ...
Butternuts ........
Cabbage ...........
Calf, brains. .....
liver (6) .....
Cantaloupe ........

Dry
basis
(100).

Copper
content.
IvIoist we.

Lindow,

Elvehjem,
TABLE

Food.

Moisture.

Per

cent

I-continued.

Copper
content.
Dry
Fresh
basis mate- 1
(lOO)./ rial. /
ww.

467

Food.

w7.

per kg. per kg.

Lettuce,
leaf (2).
Milk. .............
81.7
29.8
5.5 Molasses ..........
80.0
7.3
1.5 Mushrooms
.......
78.8
13.4
2.8, Muskmelon,
honey
67.3
7.1
2.3
dew .............
77.6
11.1
2.5 Oatmeal
...........
81.1 38.8
7.3 I Ohves
..............
77.6
15.4
3.4lOnions..
..........
87.5245.8
30.7 Oranges ...........
80.4
18.7
3.7 Oyster
plant ......
72.5
12.3
3.4 Parsley ............
80.2
8.5
1.7 Parsnips
...........
79.2
7.6
1.6 Peaches,
dried ....
75.7
7.8
1.9 Peanuts ...........
81.3
12.3
2.3 Pears ..............
69.8
7.7
2.3 Peas, green .......
70.4
14.4
4.3
( split .........
70.9
10.3
3.3 Pecans ............
79.8
9.7
1.9 Peppers,
green ....
9.0
7.7
7.0 Pineapple..
.......
6.5
5.2
4.9 Pistachio
nuts., ...
8.9
1.9
l.ri Plums,
blue .......
6.4
4.4
4.2 Pork chops ........
90.1
8.1
0.8 Potatoes.,
........
79.6
4.8
0.9 Potatoes,
sweet ...
92.8
4.8
0.3 Poultry.
Chicken,
dark
96.0
5.3
0.2
3.8 14.0 13.5
meat ..........
2.9 14.7 14.3
Chicken,
white
68.7 20.8
6.5
meat ..........
7.5
2.0
1.9
Duck..
..........
18.2
2.5
2.0
Goose.. .........
90.7
15.0
1.4
Turkey,
dark
85.0
5.5
0.8
meat ..........
54.2
9.1
4.2
Turkey,
white
96.0
10.2
0.4
meat. .........
96.6
11.61
0.4 Prunes,
dried .....

histure.

Per

Copper
content.
Dry
Fresh
basis mate(100). rial.
WJ.

%I.

cent

per kg. per kg.

94.4
87.5
26.2
71.2

11.3 0.6
1.2 0.15
26.2 19.3
61.7 17.9

89.4
6.4
77.0
93.7
87.6
76.6
87.6
82.7
37.4
2.0
83.9
75.2
9.5
2.3
94.0
92.0
4.0
84.9
54.4
78.2
72.1

6.5 0.7
5.4 5.0
14.7 3.4
13.4 0.8
6.4 0.8
11.4 2.7
17.3 2.1
7.0 1.2
6.3 2.7
9.7 9.6
6.3 1.0
9.8 2.4
15.5 14.0
13.9 13.6
16.1 1.0
8.3 0.7
12.2 11.7
9.7 1.5
6.8 3.1
8.0 1.7
5.2 1.5

67.5

12.7

4.1

76.6
43.7
57.0

11.5
7.3
7.7

2.7
4.1
3.3

72.1

7.3

2.0

72.2
44.1

5.4
7.3

1.5
4.1

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Fish and sea foods

-Con&ued.
Codfish ...........
Flounder
.........
Haddock
.........
Halibut
..........
Herring
..........
Lobster
..........
Mackerel
.........
Oyster
(2) ........
Perch ............
Pickerel
..........
Pike ..............
Red snapper
.....
Salmon ..........
Scallops ..........
Shad .............
Shrimp..
.........
Trout,
lake ......
Whitefish
.........
Flour,
buckwheat
..

Graham
.....
I
patent ......
I
rye ..........
Gooseberries
.......
Grapes,
Malaga
....
Grapefruit
.........
Grape
juice ........
Hazelnuts..
........
Hickory
nuts .......
Hog, liver (5) ......
Hominy
............
Honey ..............
Kohlrabi
...........
Kumquats..
........
Lamb
chops ........
Lemon..
...........
Lettuce,
head ......

and Peterson

468

Copper Content
TABLE

of Foods

I-concluded.

Copper
content.
Food.

Moisture.
~-Per
cent

10.9
8.6
91.7
82.5
94.4
28.2
31.9
84.1
94.4
9.5
9.5
80.9
8.1

pe?ig.

6.3
7.6
4.0
7.8
28.7
3.8
3.0
8.3
9.5
2.1
4.0
8.0
6.7

Food:

---

w.
pev kg.

5.6
7.0
0.3
1.4
1.6
2.7
2.0
1.3
0.5
1.9
3.6
1.5
6.2

c,zt
Spinach..
.........
Squash,
Hubbard
..
Strawberries
......
Tangerines
........
Tomatoes
(2). ....
Turnips
...........
Veal chops ........
iwalnuts,
English
..
Watercress
........
Watermelon
.......
Wheat
bran..
.....

germ ......

81.9
90.4
90.3
86.0
94.2
91.5
72.6
3.3
92.5
92.7
3.3
10.4

copper
content.
Dry Fresh
basis mate(1OOO). rial.
pii%,.
6.9
4.2
1.9
6.2
9.9
11.0
9.1
10.3
5.3
9.1
12.1
14.2

,lt%g.
1.2
0.4
0.2
0.9
0.6
0.9
2.5
10.0
0.4
0.7
11.7
12.7

materials.
The figures range from 44.1 mg. of copper per kilo of
fresh calf liver to 0.1 mg. of copper per kilo of fresh celery. Within
these limits the various groups of foodstuffs in order of their average copper content per kilo of fresh material come as follows:
ten nuts, 11.6 mg.; four dried legumes, 9.0 mg.; nineteen cereals,
4.7 mg.; eight dried fruits, 4.2 mg.; four kinds of poultry, 3.0 mg.;
seventeen kinds of fish, 2.5 mg.; thirteen animal tissues, 1.7 mg.;
two green legumes, 1.7 mg. ; eleven roots, tubers, stalks, and bulbs,
1.4 mg.; fourteen leafy vegetables, 1.2 mg.; twenty-seven
fresh
fruits, 1.0 mg.; ten non-leafy vegetables, 0.7 mg. The first four
groups owe their high rank largely to the low percentage of moisture contained in these foods.
In contrast to the conspicuous
place which they occupied as based on their iron content (6), the
green leafy vegetables come far down the series. It is rather
unexpected to find them surpassed in copper content by roots,
tubers, stalks, and bulbs.
A few individual foods are strikingly
high in copper.
Besides
calf liver, which has already been mentioned, oysters, chocolate,
cocoa, and molasses are conspicuously high in this element.
The same organ from animals of different age or species shows

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Puffed
Rice .........
Puffed
Wheat ......
Pumpkin
...........
Quince .............
Radishes
...........
Raisins,
seeded .....

seedless ...
Raspberries,
red. ..
Rhubarb
...........
Rice, polished
......
unpolished.
..
Rutabaga.s
.........
Shredded
Wheat ...

Dry Fresh
basis mate(100). Cal.

Moisture.

Lindow,

Elvehjem,

and Peterson

marked differences in copper content.

Calf liver contains 2 times
as much copper as beef liver, and the latter contains 3 times as
much copper as hog liver.
Because of these wide variations the
figures for liver were omitted in calculating the average for animal
tissue.
TABLE

Degree of Variation

in

Iron,
Classes

II.

Manganese,
and
of Food Materials.

Class.

Copper Content of Different

Minimum.

in fresh

mg.
PW

material.

mg. per kg.

mg. per kg.

kg.

6.6
Fresh
fruits..
. . . . . , 23
Nuts..
... .. . ...
12 41.0
14 11.0
Roots
and tubers...
Vegetables,
leafy..
7 69.0

2.3 Watermelon.
21.4 Walnut.
3.0 Onion.
3.4 Cabbage.

Manganese
13
4.0
Fresh
fruits..
. ...
Nuts..
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 13.3
7 3.2
Roots
and tubers...
Vegetables,
leafy..
. 8 6.6
Copper
Fresh fruits..
.
Nuts..
. .
Roots and tubers..
Vegetables,
leafy.

. . 27
10
11
. 14

1.0
11.6
1.4
1.2

in fresh
0.2
6.3
0.5
0.8

Grapes.
Pistachio
Beets.
Parsley.

nut.

material.

Watermelon.
Pistachio.
Onion.
Cabbage.

in fresh
0.2
6.0
0.8
0.4

22.8
79.2
23.6
192.1

22.9 Blueberries.
18.0 Walnut.
13.5 Beets.
12.6 Beet greens,

tops.

material.

Strawberries.
Chestnuts.
Carrots.
Watercress.

3.4
14.3
2.7
3.1

Olives.
Hickory
nuts.
Oyster
plant.
Artichoke.

Unlike the data obtained for the iron content of salt water and
fresh water fish (6), the average figures for the copper content of
the two groups are practically the same.
One of the outstanding features of this series of analyses is the
low order of variation among samples of food materials that fall
in the same class. This fact becomes still more apparent when

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Iron

Maximum.

470

Copper Content

of Foods

SUMMARY.

The copper content of about 160 samples of our common food

materials has been determined.
The figures range from 0.1 mg.
of copper per kilo of fresh celery to 44.1 mg. per kilo of fresh calf
liver.
The classes of foods in descending order of copper content
are as follows: nuts, dried legumes, cereals, dried fruits, poultry,
fish, animal tissues, green legumes, roots, etc., leafy vegetables,
fresh fruits, and non-leafy vegetables.
The copper content of
leafy vegetables does not place them in the preeminent position
that they hold with reference to their iron content.
A wide variation was found in the copper content of livers from
different animals; calf liver was highest and hog liver was lowest.
The copper content of oysters proved to be strikingly
high and
surpassed all the sea foods in this element.
The degree of variation in the copper content of foods falling
in the same class was less than that of either manganese or iron.
There is a wide distribution
of copper in food materials, no

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the variations are compared with those of iron and manganese in

the same samples.
In Table II figures are given for the variations
in iron, manganese, and copper of four different classes of foods.
In the class of leafy vegetables the iron content of the highest is
The maximum figure
almost 60 times that of the lowest member.
for manganese is about 15 times the minimum, while the maximum figure for copper is only 8 times the minimum.
Because of the limited data available in the literature, it is
difficult to compare the results obtained by different workers.
However,
it is worth noting that our figures compare favorably
with those of Guerithault
(2) and Quartaroli (3) who have worked
on a different continent and who have used different methods.
In some instances there is a wide variation, but the order of the
series is not generally disturbed.
The copper content of twentyseven foods analyzed by Guerithault
averaged 3.6 mg. per kilo
of fresh material, while the copper of the same materials analyzed
by us averaged 3.1 mg. per kilo.
A similar comparison gave an
average of 14.1 mg. of copper per kilo of dry matter for eighteen
samples analyzed by Quartaroli
and 10.4 mg. per kilo for the
same group reported here.

Lindow,

Elvehjem,

and Peterson

food examined being without this element.

Certain milled cereals,
such as polished rice and patent wheat flour, are very low in copper
as compared to the whole grain from which they were made.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1.
2.
3.
4.

Downloaded from http://www.jbc.org/ by guest on January 4, 2016

Elvehjem, C. A., and Lindow, C. W., J. Biol. Chem., 81,435 (1929).

16,386 (1927).
Guerithault,
B., Bull. sot. hyg. aliment.,
Quartaroli, A., Ann. chim. appl., 18,47 (1928).
McHargue, J. S., Am. J. Physiol.,
72,538
(1925); J. Am. Sot. Agron., 17,
368 (1925); J. Agric. Research, 30,193 (1925).
5. Elvehjem, C. A., and Peterson, W. H., J. Biol. Chem., 74,433 (1927).
6. Peterson, W. H., andElvehjem,
C. A., J. Biol. Chem., 78,215 (1928).
7. Lindow, C. W., and Peterson, W. H., J. Biol. Chem., 76,169 (1927).

ARTICLE:
THE COPPER CONTENT OF PLANT
AND ANIMAL FOODS

J. Biol. Chem. 1929, 82:465-471.

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C. W. Lindow, C. A. Elvehjem, W. H.
Peterson and With the cooperation of H. E.
Howe