Determination of total and bioavailable silicon in selected foodstuffs

This paper presents an attempt to assess the total content of silicon and its potentially bioavailable forms to the human body in selected foodstuffs. The measurements of the total and bioavailable silicon were conducted with the use of two analytical methods: AAS, VIS. The content of silicon in foodstuffs was in the range of 3 μg/kg to 4.13 mg/kg in dry matter calculated for its bioavailable form and in the range of 1.50–48.38 mg/kg in dry matter for total silicon. This paper shows the appropriateness of speciation analysis for the determination of total and bioavailable silicon. Little correlation was found between the total content of silicon and its potentially biologically available form in the assayed foodstuff’s. The correlation coefficient was r=0.2680.