FOCH 3719 Disk used No. pages 8, DTD=4.3.1 ARTICLE IN PRESS UNCORRECTED PROOF Selenium in selected foods grown or purchased in eastern Croatia T. Klapec a, *, M.L. Mandic´ a , J. Grgic´ b , Lj. Primorac a , A. Perl a , V. Krstanovic´ a a University J. J. Strossmayer, Faculty of Food Technology, Kuhac ˇeva 18, HR-31107 Osijek, Croatia b Institute of Public Health, Krez ˇmina bb, HR-31000 Osijek, Croatia Received 5 December 2002; received in revised form 31 July 2003; accepted 31 July 2003 Abstract The total selenium content of various foods produced and/or consumed in two rural regions of eastern Croatia was determined using the AAS hydride generation technique. The samples were previously digested in a mixture of perchloric, sulfuric, and nitric acids (1:1:5). As expected, rich sources of protein like fish, meat, eggs, etc., were also rich in selenium. The lowest selenium levels were found in fruits and vegetables. Significant differences were noted for some foods grown on two separate locations around Rivers Drava and Sava in eastern Croatia with higher concentrations in samples from the Sava basin. The mean content of sele- nium in foods (on the wet weight) was compared with the levels reported from other countries. On the basis of this, the dietary Se intake in both areas is likely to be between suboptimal or adequate supply of this element. # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Selenium; Food; HG–AAS; Croatia 1. Introduction The essential element selenium (Se) is primarily known by its antioxidant role through enzymes like glutathione peroxidase (Cohen & Avissar, 1994; Sunde, 1994) and thioredoxin reductase (Becker, Gromer, Schirmer, & Muller, 2000), but it is also a component of numerous other selenoproteins with functions ranging from thyroid metabolism to selenoprotein synthesis (Arthur & Beckett, 1994; Kohrle, Brigelius-Flohe, Bock, Gartner, Meyer, & Flohe, 2000; Moschos, 2000; Ursini et al., 1999; Whanger, 2000). Additionally, either not dependent on the known or any selenoenzymes, are the effects of the element on the immune system (Rayman, 2000), reproductive function (Hansen & Deguchi, 1996), protection from heavy metal toxicity (Johnston & Savage, 1991), risk and/or prognosis of certain diseases (Navarro-Alarco´ n & Lo´pez-Martı´nez, 2000), etc. For example, it has been proved that Keshan disease is a result of deficient Se dietary intake (Yang, Chen, Wen, Ge, Zhu, & Chen, 1984). There have also been reports that Se status may be linked to the etiology of diseases like cancer (Clark et al., 1996), cardiovascular diseases (Kardinaal et al., 1997), viral diseases (Beck & Levander, 1998; Taylor, Nadimpalli, & Ramanathan, 1997), etc. A great range of Se concentrations can be found in a food from different geographical regions, which is mainly due to variations in total Se content in soil, but also because of its variable availability to plants con- trolled by soil composition and pH (Fordyce, Zhang, Green, & Liu, 2000). Therefore, methods of Se dietary intake assessment other than duplicated portions, must be based on Se content data obtained on samples of foods actually consumed by the investigated population. Previous research on Se in eastern Croatia revealed the occurrence of selenium deficit disorders in domestic animals and deficient concentrations of the element in soil and grains in central part of the area (Gavrilovic´ & Matesˇic´, 1987; Matesˇic´, Kos, & Strasˇek, 1981). A sub- optimal provision with Se was also determined in a sample of urban subjects (Klapec et al., 1998), as well as the corresponding levels in human milk (Mandic´ , Man- dic´, Grgic´, Hasenay, & Grgic´, 1995). The objective of this work was to determine the total Se concentration in foods consumed in two distinct rural areas of eastern Croatia. This is essential for the assessment of the daily dietary intake of Se by respective populations. 0308-8146/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2003.07.031 Food Chemistry & (&&&&) &–& www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +385-31-224-364; fax: +385-31- 207-115. E-mail address: tomi@ptfos.hr (T. Klapec).