Author(s):
Pires, Rita ; Costa, Margarida ; Pereira, Hugo ; Cardoso, Helena ; Ferreira, Luís ; Lapa, Nuno ; Silva, Joana ; Ventura, Márcia
Date: 2024
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/178915
Origin: Repositório Institucional da UNL
Project/scholarship:
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/Concurso de avaliação no âmbito do Programa Plurianual de Financiamento de Unidades de I&D (2017%2F2018) - Financiamento Programático/UIDP%2F50006%2F2020/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/Concurso para Atribuição do Estatuto e Financiamento de Laboratórios Associados (LA)/LA%2FP%2F0008%2F2020/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/Concurso de avaliação no âmbito do Programa Plurianual de Financiamento de Unidades de I&D (2017%2F2018) - Financiamento Base/UIDB%2F50006%2F2020/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/DL 57%2F2016/DL 57%2F2016%2FCP1482%2FCT0134/PT;
Subject(s): Biomass production; Feed and food supplementation; Inorganic and organic selenium; Selenium-enriched microalgae; Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous); Agronomy and Crop Science; Aquatic Science; Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)
Description
Rita Pires acknowledges the Ph.D. Fellowship 2022.12360.BNA, Ref CRM:001 1392 from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia . Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.
Selenium (Se) is essential for human and animal nutrition, playing a key role in antioxidant and immune functions. Organic Se is better for supplementation because it is more efficiently assimilated and less toxic than its inorganic form. Due to the scarcity of Se in European soils, supplementation in feed and food is necessary. Currently, inorganic Se (sodium selenite and selenate) and organic Se in Se-enriched yeast are approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to address Se deficiency. However, Se-enriched microalgae present a promising alternative. By supplementing their growth media with Se, microalgae convert it into organic forms like Se-cysteine and Se-methionine, creating Se-enriched biomass. This biomass can serve as a valuable Se source with the additional benefits of microalgae. This review evaluates the viability of microalgae as a Se supplementation vehicle in food and feed and explores its commercial applications in the European Union (EU), along with emerging projects and innovations in the field.
