SELENIUM IN COMMONLY CONSUMED FOODS OF BANGLADESH

Background and objectives: As an essential trace mineral Selenium has a pivotal role in maintaining human health. The beneficial role of Selenium includes antioxidant activities, proper functioning of the immune system, DNA synthesis and conservation of reproductive health. In spite of such beneficial roles of Selenium, there was a lack of data on the Selenium content of foods in Bangladesh. This study is the very first approach of incorporating analytical data of Selenium of commonly consumed foods. Methods: Sample selection and prioritization were done according to the key food approach throughout the year. A total of twenty foods of predominant varieties were collected for analysis. Fresh samples of cereals (Rice, Wheat flour), pulses (Lentils), vegetables (Brinjal, Bean, Carrot, Green chili, Onion, Potato, Tomato) fruits (Banana, Mango, Jackfruit), freshwater fish (Rohu, Tilapia, Pangas), meat (chicken leg and breast), egg (chicken), and milk (cow) were collected for analysis of Selenium. The samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) followed by microwave digestion. Results: The result shows that highest and lowest content of Selenium (fresh weight basis) was found in tilapia fish (1.18 µg/g) and in rice (0.13 µg/g) respectively. Among the different food groups the estimated average Se content (µg/g) was found in the decreasing order of egg (1.06) > fish (1.03) > meat (0.75) > milk (0.42) > fruits (0.27) > Cereals (0.13) > Pulse (0.07) > Vegetables (0.06). Again among the individual food categories, the food sample which showed the highest concentrations of Se are cereals- Wheat flour (0.24), pulse-lentil (0.07), Vegetables-bean (0.1), fruits-mango (0.43), meat-chicken breast (0.79), fish-Tilapia (1.18), milk (0.42) and egg (1.06) respectively. Conclusions: Accurate food compositional database for Se is immensely important to find out the rich source of Selenium. Findings of the present study from nationally representative commonly consumed foods of Bangladesh revealed that animal foods contain more selenium than foods from plant origin.