## 4 Discussion
americana_ in Oaxaca. For the infloresrescences of _D. americana_, the micromineral concentrations were Si \(>\) Fe \(>\) Mn \(>\) Cu \(>\) Mo, with significant differences in terms of geographical origin. In the case of the evaluations carried out by [PERSON] et al. [31] in eight species of leaf quelites, the macroelement pattern was Fe \(>\) Cu \(>\) Mn \(>\) Zn, with average variations of 7.86 to 40.99, 1.67 to 38.70, 4.11 to 37.09, and 2.32 to 10.6 mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\) in fresh weight, and the results in this work ranged from 3.96 to 6.31, 0.57 to 1.59, 1.31 to 2.50 and 3.77 to 5.45 mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\) in dry weight, respectively. For _D. americana_, [PERSON] et al. [23] estimated values of 10.98, 0.99, and 4.25 mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\) for the Fe, Cu, and Zn contents, respectively. While it is important to understand the differences in concentrations due to the differential effects between the species and detection equipment, both studies reported the nutritional and health potential of the microelements of _D. americana_, including other native species of quelites distributed in Oaxaca. Furthermore, the P, Ca, Mg, Na, Cu, Mn, and Zn contents in _D. americana_ flowers shown in this work could contribute to the recommended daily intake requirements for adults [43]. The consumption of immature infloresrescences of pacaya or tepejilote (_C. tepejilote_) and other palms is prevalent in the tropical and subtropical regions of southern-southeast Mexico, and these plants are even cultivated in these regions. Bean dishes with tepejilote are very popular, simply boiled or combined with eggs, among many forms of local preparation. From region to region, it is harvested or cultivated at different times of the year, but it is common in traditional markets. The samples described here in terms of macro- and microelements were collected in the municipalities of Santa Maria Jacatepec, Santiago Jocotepec, San Juan Bautista Valle Nacional, San Felipe Jalapa de Diaz, and Ayotzintepec from the lower Chinanteca zone in the region of Papaloapan, Oaxaca, Mexico, with a majority of the population constituting the Chinantec indigenous group. The macroelement contents in _C. tepejilote_ were ordered from highest to lowest as follows: K \(>\) Ca \(>\) S \(>\) P \(>\) Mg \(>\) Na, and significant differences were found for all the minerals except Na between and within locations. For infloresrescences of _C. tepejilote_ collected in Tabasco, [PERSON] et al. [22] obtained concentrations of 229.13, 2479, 103.26 and 6.77 mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\) of K, Ca, Mg, and Na, respectively, via atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), and our results presented variations from 2802.6 to 3650.3, 2263.1 to 3383.7, 533.1 to 1281.0, and 9.95 to 43.67 mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\), respectively, but were estimated via optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). On the other hand, [PERSON] et al. [3] reported variations in the leaves of _Amaranthus hybridus_ L. (amaranth), _Chenopodium berlandieri_ L. (Huauzontle), and _Portulaca olencaea_ L. (purslane) from 4610 to 6920, 900 to 1980, and 300 to 780 mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\) for K, Ca, and Mg, respectively, via AAS. These similarities and differences with respect to the results of other authors for _C. tepejilote_ or other species of leaf quelites show that _C. tepejilote_ can contribute relevant amounts of K, Ca, Mg, and Na to the human diet. One of the restrictions for the consumption of _C. tepejilote_ and similar species is that they grow only in tropical and subtropical areas of the country, and their consumption is unknown beyond those regions. For infloresrescences of _C. tepejilote_ collected in Tabasco, [PERSON] et al. [22] reported concentrations of 25.01, 4.94, and 0.23 mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\) of Fe, Zn, and Cu, respectively. In this work, variations were obtained from 8.12 to 13.67, 7.27 to 9.23, and 1.10 to 3.09 mg 100 g\({}^{-1}\) for Fe, Zn, and Cu, respectively. On the other hand, in 30 samples of _Amaranthus tricolor_ L., [PERSON] et al.