摘要 |
Complexes of boron with sugars or/or sugar alcohols are utilized as nutritional supplements, with the carbohydrate portion being selected to provide a relatively high boron-sugar association constant of at least 250, and preferably 500 or more. In one class of preferred embodiments, boron is complexed with a saccharide having co-planar cis-OH groups capable of forming five or six membered rings through ester bonding with boric acid. Such complexes may advantageously comprise fructose, mannose, xylose or sorbose. In another aspect of the invention, a carbohydrate-boric acid complex may be charge neutralized with calcium, magnesium or other cation(s). A particularly preferred form is calcium fructoborate. In yet another aspect of preferred embodiments, the boron supplement can be included in a food, especially in a high magnesium food, and more especially in a snack food such as a snack containing chocolate and/or nuts. |