20.500.12556/RUL-137531 Nutritional quality and safety of the Spirulina dietary supplements sold on the Slovenian market The microalgae Spirulina may be a popular dietary supplement rich in essential nutrients and vitamins, but oversight of the supplement industry, in general, remains limited, and increasing incidents of adulteration, misbranding, and undeclared ingredients together with misleading claims create potential risks. In response, this study characterized the elemental, amino acid and fatty acid content of commercially available Spirulina supplements in Slovenia using EDXRF, ICP-MS and GC-MS and compared the results with their nutritional declaration. The gathered data confirm that Spirulina supplements are a good source of calcium (0.15 to 29.5% of RDA), phosphorous (3.36–26.7% of RDA), potassium (0.5 to 7.69% of RDA) and selenium (0.01 to 38.6% of RDA) when consumed within recommended amounts. However, although iron contents were relatively high (7.64 to 316% of RDA), the actual bioavailability of iron was much lower since it was mainly present as the ferric cation. This study also confirms that pure Spirulina supplements are a good source of essential and non-essential amino acids, and ω-6 but not ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The presence of additives resulted in significant variation in nutrient content and, in some instances, lower product quality. Moreover, a high proportion (86.7%) of inappropriate declarations regarding the elemental content was observed. Overall, the study conclusions underline the need for a stricter control system for Spirulina-based supplements. Spirulina microalgae cyanobacteria elements toxic elements amino acids fatty acids authenticity safety quality true false true Angleški jezik Ni določen Članek v reviji 2022-06-21 09:07:38 2022-06-21 09:07:40 2022-09-15 04:15:20 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2022 0 0 20 str. iss. 6, art. 849 Vol. 11 2022 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 502/504 2304-8158 10.3390/foods11060849 101750275 foods-11-00849.pdf foods-11-00849.pdf 1 5CFCC04A29B4939D19444E95574F8D8F 2fe3cd07f5414e18e32f6ab76551601efcd1c56494820cd9eebe02d490c114d4 ea3772cb-f130-11ec-8aca-00155dcfd717 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=157506 https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/6/849 0 be830325-f130-11ec-8aca-00155dcfd717 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=157505 Biotehniška fakulteta 0 0 0