Is the element potassium the same potassium found in bananas?
Friday, June 26th, 2009 at
6:06 AM
Can someone explain to me how the element potassium (which is also a metal) found in bananas and other foods? I been trying to figure this out.
Filed under: Potassium In Food
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Yes, it is the same potassium. What you are confusing, however, is the difference between heavy metals, like silver, gold, copper, and lead with a chemist's definition of a metal.
A metallic element refers to any element with certain properties, including positive ionic charge, how it reacts with acids and the halogens, so on and so forth.
If you use a chemist's definition, potassium is very much a metal. Other "essential minerals" are nothing more than metallic elements. These include iron (yes, the same iron that support buildings), calcium (yes, the same calcium that makes up chalk), and magnesium (yes, the same stuff that burns a brilliant white). Just because they are used for one thing does not mean they are not used by living things like us for another. Each of the elements are in its ionic form, typically bound to a carbonate or some other non-harmful anion. The metallic elements are essential to many body functions including oxygen transfer, brain function and many others I will not list here.
Potassium is a naturally occurring element. It can be found in the soil. If a banana tree absorbs the potassium from the soil it can use it in the bananas it creates. I'm assuming since it is usually found in bananas then it is a necessity for banana trees to have potassium to create bananas. Since the tree absorbs the potassium in the soil it becomes a nutrient in the banana.