Abstract
This goal of this study was to highlight the importance of minerals in the diet of fish for meeting micronutrient requirements in the human diet. First arsenic, calcium, cadmium, copper, iron, molybdenum, magnesium, manganese, sodium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc concentrations of twelve commercially available tilapia samples were measured. The nutritional value of fillets in regard to their mineral content were assessed to establish potential health benefits or risks for consumers. The health benefit value of selenium was also calculated. Positive health benefit values indicate that tilapia fillets in the United States marketplace of this study do not pose health risks associated with mercury exposures. Selenium was the trace mineral of interest. After the market study, a seven-week fish feeding trial was conducted to study the influence of organic versus inorganic dietary selenium on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Fish were fed two different diets enriched with the same concentration (0.01g kg-1) of selenium in form of inorganic (sodium selenite) or organic (seleno-L-methionine) selenium in triplicate groups. There were no significant differences between growth and biometrics of fish fed different diets (p>0.05). At the end of trial twelve fish from each treatment were collected. Fillets of fish fed organic selenium had selenium concentrations of 0.55 ± 0.01 μg g-1 which were significantly (p<0.05) higher than fish fed inorganic selenium at levels of 0.22 ± 0.008 μg g-1 or fish samples from the marketplace with a selenium level of 0.2 ± 0.03 μg g-1. Fish fed organic selenium also had significantly higher (p<0.05) plasma and kidney selenium in comparison to fish fed inorganic selenium. No significant differences (p>0.05) were observed in glutathione peroxidase activities in either the plasma or liver of Nile tilapia in the different treatment groups. This study shows that organic selenium is a better option for production of Nile tilapia fillets rich in selenium.
Highlights
Malnutrition is one of the biggest problems facing the world [1]
The freeze-dried digested samples were diluted to two separate dilutions based on analyte with 2% (w/w) nitric acid prior to analysis
China was the main country of the origin (Table 1)
Summary
Malnutrition is one of the biggest problems facing the world [1]. Fish is a protein rich food that is increasingly favored by consumers. Fish are good sources of highly bioavailable micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins that play important role in human health, growth and development and disease prevention [4]. Being part of numerous enzymes, minerals participate in many vital biological processes for human and animals In this context selenium (Se) is one of the most interesting elements. Due to the beneficial effects of Se for human and animal health this element has been proposed as a valuable resource for including in functional feeds for aquaculture which can promote health and growth of fish as well as improving the quality of their respective fillets for human consumption. The market study aimed to provide information for consumers on potential contribution of consumption of tilapia fillet to mineral contents of their diets. This was done by comparing the Se concentrations of fillets from market survey to Se concentrations of tilapia fillets from fish trial
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