In Vitro Bioaccessibility of Selenium in Popular Thai Seafood Across Cooking Methods

Abstract

Selenium (Se) is a vital element for human health and seafood represents one of its major dietary sources. Nevertheless, information regarding the bioaccessibility of Se from seafood commonly consumed in Thailand remains scarce. To address this limitation, the present study evaluated in vitro Se bioaccessibility using the equilibrium dialyzability approach. Ten seafood species frequently selected by Thai consumers were investigated to determine total Se concentrations following different culinary treatments, namely fresh, boiling, frying, and grilling. For thermally processed samples, gastrointestinal digestion was simulated in vitro through enzymatic digestion prior to bioaccessibility assessment using the equilibrium dialyzability method. Inductively coupled plasma triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-QQQ-MS) was used to precisely quantify the total and dialyzable Se fractions. The effects of seafood species and cooking methods were evaluated statistically using two-way analysis of variance and the Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD) test for post hoc comparisons. The findings showed that, across the majority of cooking techniques, Indo-Pacific horseshoe crab eggs consistently showed considerably greater Se contents than other seafood (p < 0.05). Moreover, Se bioaccessibility in Indo-Pacific horseshoe crab eggs (81.1–88.3%) was markedly greater than that observed in other seafood items, including musk crab, blue crab, oysters, and wedge shell, regardless of cooking method (p < 0.05). No statistically significant differences in Se bioaccessibility were observed among boiling, frying, and grilling (p > 0.05), indicating that thermal processing did not adversely affect Se availability. Overall, the seafood species examined in this study, irrespective of preparation method, contained substantial Se levels with high bioaccessibility, underscoring their nutritional value and supporting dietary recommendations that promote balanced consumption of marine foods.