Studying the distribution of Selenium in buffalo and cow's milk whey

João B Pereira Junior,Kelly G Fernandes

doi:10.1590/s0103-50532011000500010

Abstract

In this study, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) coupled with an online ultraviolet detection (UV) and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF AAS) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) were used to study the association of selenium with macromolecules and compounds present in buffalo and cow's milk whey. SEC-UV profiles obtained from buffalo and cow's milk whey samples indicate the presence of high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) species in both samples studied. The combined information obtained with SEC-UV, GF AAS and MALDI-TOF-MS for fractions < 10 kDa confirmed the association of selenium with LMW species

Highlights

Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) milk is a food highly nutritious and beneficial to the human health due to the biological value of its constituents
size exclusion chromatography (SEC) coupled with online ultraviolet detection (UV) and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF AAS) detection was used to evaluate selenium binding to high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) species present in buffalo and cow’s milk whey
The following equation was obtained from column calibration with albumin (Kav = 0.015), b-lactoglobulin (Kav = 0.075) and selenomethionine (Kav = 0.562): log (MW) = -4.6569 Kav + 4.899 (r2 = 1.0), where molecular weights (MW) and Kav are the molecular weight (Da) and partition coefficient, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) milk is a food highly nutritious and beneficial to the human health due to the biological value of its constituents. SEC coupled with online UV and GF AAS detection was used to evaluate selenium binding to high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) species present in buffalo and cow’s milk whey.

Results

Conclusion