DETERMINATION OF IRON AND ASCORBIC ACID FROM NETTLE, SPINACH AND PARSLEY

The aim of this paper is to quantify the content of iron and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in three plant species with high nutritional value: Urtica dioica (nettle), Spinacia oleracea (spinach) and Petroselinum crispum (parsley). The study is part of the field of applied biochemistry and aims to investigate the potential of these plants as natural sources of essential micronutrients in the context of preventive nutrition and public health. The work is based on the hypothesis that the absorption of non-heme iron, present in plant sources, is significantly improved in the presence of ascorbic acid, which justifies the importance of simultaneous evaluation of the two compounds. In this regard, the analysis focuses on determining the concentration of iron and vitamin C in fresh plant material by validated laboratory methods.