Determination of SeMet and Se(iv) in biofortified yeast by ion-pair reversed phase liquid chromatography-hydride generation-microwave induced nitrogen plasma atomic emission spectrometry (HPLC-HG-MP-AES)

Abstract

Selenium biofortified yeast is the most common dietary Se supplement in human nutrition and in farm animals. Therefore, the production and routine quality control of commercial products are highly demanded. In this work, a simple and cost-effective procedure is proposed for the determination of SeMet and Se(IV) in hydrolyzed yeast, consisting of ion-pair reversed phase separation, post-column hydride generation and Se quantification by atomic emission spectrometry with microwave plasma sustained by nitrogen (HPLC-HG-MP-AES). Freeze-dried biomass was hydrolyzed with methanesulfonic acid; chromatographic separation was performed with a mobile phase containing 0.08% v/v heptafluorobutyric and methanol (92 : 8) at a flow rate of 1 mL min⁻¹; the column effluent was on-line mixed with an alkaline solution of potassium persulfate (K₂S₂O₈ 6% m/v, NaOH 3% m/v), passed through a reaction coil submerged in a water bath at 60 °C, and then 10 M hydrochloric acid was added prior to hydride generation in the MP-AES multimode sample introduction system (NaBH₄ 2% m/v, NaOH 0.3% m/v). The total chromatographic run was accomplished in 5 min and the evaluated on-column quantification limits were 59 ng Se mL⁻¹ for Se(IV) and 0.52 μg mL⁻¹ for SeMet. The procedure was tested using standardized Seleno Excell® high selenium yeast and then applied for the analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae biofortified under different fermentation and exposure conditions. The procedure was capable of detecting differences in selenium concentration among cultures and the results were consistent with those obtained while coupling HPLC separation directly to ICP-MS detection.