 Corresponding author: Wahab Gbolahan Ayoade Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0. Assessment of minerals and vitamin constituents of some commonly consumed spices Wahab Gbolahan Ayoade 1, * , Lasisi Gbadamosi 2 , Morenike Grace Ajayi 3 and Muiz Olaide Badmus 1, 4 1 Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. 2 Department of Chemistry, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo City, Ondo State, Nigeria. 3 Department of Chemical Sciences, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. 4 Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. International Journal of Science and Research Archive, 2023, 10(01), 053–061 Publication history: Received on 22 June 2023; revised on 31 August 2023; accepted on 02 September 2023 Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/ijsra.2023.10.1.0702 Abstract The minerals and vitamin components of five commonly consumed spices such as Ginger, Garlic, Turmeric, Black pepper and Cloves were evaluated using standard methods. Mineral composition results showed that the calcium content (mg/100g) in Ginger, Garlic, Turmeric, Black pepper and Cloves were 338.17, 282.18, 346.51, 438.61 and 274.63, respectively. The levels of potassium in all the spices ranged from the least 68.47 in garlic to the highest 96.05 in black pepper and Sodium concentrations in all the spices were 23.41 in ginger, 20.15 in garlic, 21.78 in turmeric, 38.82 in black pepper and 26.64 in cloves. Other micro nutrients such as iron copper, zinc, selenium and manganese were found in traces in all the spices while the toxic metals such as lead and cadmium were not detected in all the spices. The results of vitamin contents of all the five spices showed that Thiamine, Vitamin B1 contents (mg/100g) of Ginger, Garlic, Turmeric, Black pepper and Cloves were 32.13, 24.29, 38.61, 28.84 and 27.46, respectively, vitamin B2, Riboflavin contents of the spices ranged from 25.63 in Garlic to 48.24 in Ginger, Niacin, vitamin B3 concentrations varied significantly among the spices and ranged between 15.82 in Ginger to 23.22 in Cloves, Vitamin B6 [Pyridoxine] concentration in the spices ranged from the least 27.18 in Garlic to the highest 31.81 in Black pepper, The Folic acid [Vitamin B9] ranged from 11.23 in Garlic to 16.46 in Turmeric, Vitamin B12 concentration of the spices ranged from19.64 in Ginger to 15.13 in Black pepper. Vitamin C in the Cloves had the highest 143.54 value and the least 38.24 was obtained in Ginger. Vitamin A content of the spices ranged from 56.11 in Ginger to 151.74 in Turmeric while Vitamin E contents of the spices were 10.23 the least in Ginger and 22.51 the highest in Cloves. The study revealed that the spices contained appreciable amount of nutritionally valuable minerals that body required for normal physiological functions, the spices also contained adequate amount of both fat and water soluble vitamins required by the body which can serve as body defence. Immune builder and good antioxidants. Keywords: Minerals; Vitamins; Spices; Constituents; Consumed 1. Introduction In the context of nutrition, a mineral is a chemical element required as an essential nutrient by organisms to perform functions necessary for life [1, 2], however, the four major structural elements in the human body by weight (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen), are usually not included in lists of major nutrient minerals (nitrogen is considered a "mineral" for plants, as it often is included in fertilizers). These four elements compose about 96% of the weight of the human body, and major minerals (macrominerals) and minor minerals (also called trace elements) compose the remainder.Nutrient minerals, being elements, cannot be synthesized biochemically by living organisms.Plants get minerals from soil. Most of the minerals in a human diet come from eating plants and animals or from drinking water