Selenium speciation in cow milk obtained after supplementation with different selenium forms to the cow feed using liquid chromatography coupled with hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry

The purpose of this paper is to develop an easy and quick on-line selenium speciation method (LC-UV-HG-AFS) in cow milk obtained after different supplementation to cow feed. This study focuses on selenium speciation in cow milk after the use of different selenium species (organic selenium as selenised yeast and inorganic selenium as sodium selenite) in the supplementation of forages. Separation was carried out on a μBondapack C18 column with the positively charged ion-pairing agent tetraethylammonium chloride in the mobile phase. The optimization of pre-reduction conditions was carried out; this step was done with UV irradiation and a heating block to improve the reduction of the different Se-compounds. Variables such as exposure time, hydrochloric acid concentration and temperature were studied. The detection limits for SeCyst2, Se(IV), SeMet and Se(VI) were 0.4, 0.5, 0.9 and 1.0 μg l−1, respectively. The proposed method was applied to cow milk samples. The milk samples obtained after an organic supplementation of feeding as selenised yeast present three species of selenium, SeCyst2, Se(IV) and SeMet, while only SeCyst2 and Se(IV) are present in milk samples obtained after an inorganic supplementation of feeding.