Calcium carbonate (CaCO
3) from the seaweed
Lithothamnium calcareum is a suitable dietary supplement for the prevention of osteoporosis, due to its chemical composition. This study compared CaCO
3 from
L. calcareum to CaCO
3 from oyster shell and inorganic minerals that
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Calcium carbonate (CaCO
3) from the seaweed
Lithothamnium calcareum is a suitable dietary supplement for the prevention of osteoporosis, due to its chemical composition. This study compared CaCO
3 from
L. calcareum to CaCO
3 from oyster shell and inorganic minerals that are already used in the pharmaceutical industry. The Rietveld refinement of the XRD showed that the mineral fraction of
L. calcareum is composed of aragonite (50.3 wt%), magnesian calcite (45.3 wt%), calcite (4.4 wt%), comin contrast to oyster shell and inorganic minerals, which contain only calcite. The morphology of
L. calcareum carbonate particles is granular xenomorphic, which is distinct from the scalenohedral form of inorganic calcite and the fibrous and scale-like fragments of oyster shell. The crystal structures of aragonite and magnesian calcite, present in
L. calcareum, have higher contents of oligoelements than the pure calcite in other materials. The isotopic composition (stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen) is heavy in the CaCO
3 from
L. calcareum (δ
13C = 1.1‰; δ
18O = −0.1‰) and oyster shell (δ
13C = −4‰; δ
18O = −2.8‰) in marked contrast to the much lighter isotopic composition of inorganic mineral CaCO
3 (δ
13C = −19.2‰; δ
18O = −26.3‰). The differences indicated above were determined through principal component analysis, where the first and second principal components are sufficient for the clear distinction and traceability of CaCO
3 sources.
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