Selenium concentration in food and blood of residents of Abeokuta Metropolis, Southwestern Nigeria

Selenium like any other element can both be essential and toxic depending upon the concentration at which it occurs in human diet. This paper assessed the level of this trace element in twenty different (20) types of locally produced food items around Abeokuta town and the blood obtained from the antecubital fossa vein of eighty-eight (88) healthy adults resident in Abeokuta.This study is to ascertain whether or not the Se concentration is high enough to cause deleterious health effect or adequate to meet the necessary nutritional needs of the people in the study area. Determination of Se concentration in the digested samples was achieved using Hybride Generation Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (HGAAS).The result indicates that Se concentration in the selected food items ranged from 0.30 to 9.78 mg/kg with a mean value of 1.94 mg/kg while the value of blood Se of healthy adults in Abeokuta was 19.1 + 3.0 μg/dl with a mean value of 0.191 + 0.003 μg/dl. Also the mean values of Se (19.4 ± 2.71 μg/dl) obtained from the blood of male healthy adult population was significantly different from that of the female adult population (18.7 + 3.2 μg/dl). Besides, the mean value of blood Se in the healthy people from Abeokuta compared favourably well with the blood Se values obtained from healthy people in the developed countries. The study also confirms that people consuming yam and yam products in Abeokuta are likely to have higher concentration of Se in their blood. It is anticipated that the result of this study will form the basis of further studies in this area.