Mineral contents and heavy metal contamination in Kashar cheeses consumed in Erzurum province,Turkey [Erzurum'da Tüketime sunulan Kaşar peynirlerinin mineral madde içeriǧi ve aǧi{dotless}r metal kontaminasyonu]

This study was carried out to determine the mineral substances and heavy metal contents of fresh and ripened kashar cheeses consumed in erzurum province,turkey. a total 50 samples (37 fresh and 13 ripened kashar samples) were obtained randomly from retail outlets. mineral substances and heavy metals contamination levels were detected with inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (icp-oes). the average levels of the mineral substances and heavy metals in the kashar cheeses were determined as; calcium 2265.57±614.14 mg/kg,potassium 1555.46±552.31 mg/kg,sodium 4693.31±1886.12 mg/kg,magnesium 129.34±32.05 mg/kg,iron 1.65±0.80 mg/kg,zinc 15.66±3.41 mg/kg,copper 0.39±0.35 mg/kg,manganese 0.15±0.09 mg/kg,nickel 0.27±0.24 mg/kg,lead 1.77±1.72 mg/kg and arsenic 0.0001±0.001 mg/kg. it was not determined any statistical differences in mineral substances and heavy metal levels between fresh and ripened kashar cheese samples.