Copper, iron, manganese and zinc levels in turrَn from Jijona and Alicante

The aim of this study was to determine the ash and trace element contents (copper, iron, manganese and zinc) of two traditional types of turrón (a typical Spanish Christmas sweet made from almonds, honey, egg white and sugar), popularly known as ‘hard’ or Alicante turrón and ‘soft’ or Jijona turrón. Samples and ‘soft’ or Jijona turrón. Samples. Samples of turrón were incinerated, the ashes dissolved in HCl/HNO3 and the mineral contents determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Ash samples of Jijona turrón showed greater mineral contents than did Alicante tur and 164g %, respectively) since the former has a greater almond content. Copper and manganese were present in the smallest quantities. They also showed most variation between the types and categories of the turrón investigated, both experimentally and statistically. Mean iron and zinc values were similar in both types of