Abstract

Concentrations of Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Se and Cd were determined in 58 specimens of molluscs belonging to two species: Mytilus chilensis(n = 29) and Perunytitus purpuratus(n = 29), collected on the coast of San Juan in the Strait of Magellan (Chile). Perunytitus purpuratus presented higher concentrations for all the minerals and trace elements except K, with significant differences for Mg, Fe, Cu, Se and Cd. A 100 g serving of these molluscs was shown to provide a high contribution of these minerals and trace elements to the daily dietary intake; especially noteworthy were Fe, Zn, Mg and Se in the case of P. purpuratus. In addition, the consumption of these molluscs makes a large contribution to daily Cd intake. Significant differences were observed among the mean concentrations for most of the metals studied, according to the date that the samples were collected. The application of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to the minerals and trace elements studied makes it possible to differentiate reasonably between these two mollusc species. For specimens belonging to each mollusc species, the application of LDA made the differentiation of the specimens according to their weight range possible. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.