ABSTRACT

Selenium (Se) content in the human diet is a topic of serious interest in public health systems around the world. Low dietary intake of Se can cause health disorders, including oxidative-related stress, epilepsy, fertility reduction, immune deficiency, and thyroid gland disorders. The Se content of food is, however, highly dependent on the amount of bioavailable Se present in the soil and on the ability of plants to take up and accumulate Se. The soluble Se forms in plant samples were extracted using aqueous proteolytic and non-proteolytic extractions and chemically speciated using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to ICP-MS. Natural biofortification is an environmentally friendly strategy for producing Se-enriched food products naturally in areas with high soil Se. In central California, multi-year field biofortification studies were conducted on 1- to 5-ha field sites located at Five Points, Firebaugh, and Parlier, CA.