Sources of Molybdenum

A potato has more molybdenum than a tomato or an apple.

The chemical element molybdenum is a mineral essential for most life on Earth. Most people get the molybdenum they need from the foods they eat. Molybdenum is also a co-factor required by some enzymes catalyzing important global carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycles. In the industrial world, molybdenum is an alloying agent that enhances strength, toughness, and wear and corrosion resistance in steel, cast iron and superalloys.

Meat As Dietary Source

Of all the dietary sources of molybdenum, pork, lamb and beef livers have the greatest concentrations. Other animal products are generally low in molybdenum.

Eggs, Grains, Vegetables, Fruits and Other Dietary Sources

Legumes---including beans, lentils and peas---are rich sources of molybdenum in the diet.

Good sources of molybdenum include eggs, grains, sunflower seeds and nuts.

Fruits and many vegetables not in the legume family, however, are generally low in molybdenum.

Plant molybdenum content varies, however, because it is dependent on the molybdenum content of the soil in which the plants were grown and on other environmental conditions.

Supplements

Nutritional supplements generally contain molybdenum in the form of sodium molybdate or ammonium molybdate. It is not known whether molybdenum from a multivitamin-multimineral pill can successfully replace a lack of molybdenum in the foods consumed.

Dietary Deficiency

Molybdenum dietary deficiencies occur in regions where the soil has little molybdenum. Also, without molybdenum, plants convert nitrates to carcinogenic nitrosamines instead of to amino acids. This may contribute to the very high incidences of esophageal and stomach cancer observed in some of these regions.

Dietary Excess

Excess dietary molybdenum can result in copper deficiency in grazing animals, including cattle, goats, sheep and deer. Excess molybdenum in the human diet appears to present no significant issues.

Industrial Use Sources

For industrial purposes, molybdenum is usually extracted from molybdenite. Molybdenum is also a byproduct of copper and tungsten mining.

References

• Sources of Molybdenum
• Molybdenum: Statistics and Information
• Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements