This article was downloaded by: [CSIR eJournals Consortium]

On: 25 August 2009

Access details: Access Details: [subscription number 772699002]
Publisher Informa Healthcare
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,
37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition

Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713425816

Low contribution of rice and vegetables to the daily intake of selenium in Japan
Rizky Abdulah a; Kaori Miyazaki a; Minato Nakazawa a; Hiroshi Koyama a
a
Department of Public Health, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan

Online Publication Date: 01 November 2005

To cite this Article Abdulah, Rizky, Miyazaki, Kaori, Nakazawa, Minato and Koyama, Hiroshi(2005)'Low contribution of rice and
vegetables to the daily intake of selenium in Japan',International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition,56:7,463 — 471
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/09637480500490640
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09637480500490640

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or
systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or
distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents
will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses
should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss,
actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly
or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
 International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition,
November 2005; 56(7): 463 /471

Low contribution of rice and vegetables to the daily

intake of selenium in Japan

RIZKY ABDULAH, KAORI MIYAZAKI, MINATO NAKAZAWA, &

HIROSHI KOYAMA

Department of Public Health, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan

Abstract
The growing interest in the prevention role of selenium in certain degenerative diseases such as
Downloaded By: [CSIR eJournals Consortium] At: 07:42 25 August 2009

cancer and cardiovascular disease has fostered research on natural sources of selenium. In this
research, total selenium concentrations in over 120 items of selected Japanese foods were
determined. The selenium concentration was measured fluorometrically by measurement of the
fluorescence of piazselenol resulting from the reaction of selenite with 2, 3-diaminonaphtalene.
The selenium level in rice, which is the staple food consumed in Japan, is lower than the other
countries. But the mean levels of selenium in meat and fish products are among the highest
values reported in other countries. Although the numbers of samples of selected foods analyzed
are small, the results describe the picture of the selenium level of Japanese foods.

Keywords: Selenium, foods, Japan, spectrofluorometry

Introduction
Selenium is an important part of antioxidant enzymes (National Research Council
1989) that protect cells against the effects of free radicals produced during normal
oxygen metabolism (Arteel et al. 1998, 2000). The body has developed defenses such
as antioxidants to control levels of free radicals because they can damage cells and
contribute to the development of some chronic diseases (Combs and Gray 1988; Neve
1996; Heliovaara et al. 1994; Look et al. 1997; Combs et al. 1997). The selenium
content of plants varies tremendously according to its concentration in soil, which
varies regionally. Around the world, there are many selenium-poor regions in which
overt deficiency syndromes are endemic: these regions include arid regions in
Australia, China, northern North Korea, Nepal and Tibet. People living in a low-
selenium area usually have very low selenium dietary intake; for instance, people in
Nepal have 23 mg selenium intake per day (Moser et al. 1988), and the Chinese
Nutrition Association reported people in China to have only 26 mg/day, and in some
regions below 10 mg/day. Meanwhile, the recommended dietary allowance */the
average daily dietary intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of
nearly all (97 /98%) individuals in each life-stage and gender group */of selenium is
55 mg/day.

Correspondence: Hiroshi Koyama, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Public Health, Gunma University,
Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22, Showa-machi, Maebashi City, Gunma 371-8511 Japan. Tel: 81 27
220 8010. Fax: 81 27 220 8016. E-mail: hkoyama@health.gunma-u.ac.jp

ISSN 0963-7486 print/ISSN 1465-3478 online # 2005 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/09637480500490640
 464 R. Abdulah et al.

The daily intake of selenium depends on its concentration in food, the amount of
food consumed, the chemical form of the element, and its bioavailability. It is different
between each country and, for that reason, it is important to determine the selenium
content in different commonly consumed foods in order to estimate the daily intake of
selenium in each region.
Beside the low selenium status in some parts of the world, the change of selenium
intake status in some countries may also give cause for concern. For example, in 1978
dietary selenium intakes in the United Kingdom were 60 mg/day on average (Thorn et
al. 1978), but the 1994 survey by Barclay et al. (1995) found that the selenium intake
had dropped to 34 mg/day. The same phenomena also happened in Japan. Suzuki et al.
(1988) found that the daily intake of selenium in Japan was 104 mg/day on average,
while the next survey in 1993 (Moriyama et al. 1993) found that the daily intake of
selenium in Japan had dropped to 69 mg/day. Based on these data, to prevent
selenium-related diseases it is important to monitor the average of selenium intake in
each region.
Downloaded By: [CSIR eJournals Consortium] At: 07:42 25 August 2009

The aim of this study was to determine selenium in foods commonly consumed in
Japan. This study provides the mean and standard deviation of selenium in Japanese
foods and imported foods commonly consumed in Japan. This information is
important for the assessment of the new daily intake of selenium by Japanese and
can be added to the development of a database on the selenium content of foods,
which can be useful to the treatment of selenium-related diseases.

Materials and methods

Food selection and preparation
Food samples were obtained from 18 families in Iwate prefecture Japan, using the
duplicate meals method, meaning that for each food eaten an identical serving is
placed in a container for analysis (Willet 1998). Vegetables and fruits were first rinsed
with tap water several times to ensure that all contaminants were removed. All food
samples were kept in a plastic bag and immediately transferred to the laboratory. All
samples were frozen at /808C until analysis.

Selenium analysis
The selenium concentration was measured fluorometrically by measurement of the
fluorescence of piazselenol resulting from the reaction of selenite with 2,3-diamino-
naphtalene (DAN) (Watkinson 1966). The food samples were wet-digested by heating
with a mixture of HNO3 and HClO4 (2:1), gradually increased to 1908C, and then
cooled to room temperature. Then 0.5 ml of 10 N HCl was added and reheated to
1508C for 15 min in order to facilitate the reduction of Se(IV) to Se(VI).
The pH of the digested samples was adjusted to 1 /2 with 25% ammonia solution
and 20% HCl, using thymol blue as an indicator of standard color to the required pH.
To obtain piazselenol, the solution was complexed with 0.1% DAN, and was manually
extracted with cyclohexane. The cyclohexane phase containing the selenium /DAN
complex was then measured spectrofluorometrically at an excitation wavelength of
378 nm and an emission wavelength of 525 nm (Twinkle LB970; Berthold
Technologies, Bad Wildbad, Germany).
 Daily intake of selenium in Japan 465

The accuracy of the selenium analysis can be considered satisfactory, by measure-

ment of the reference material (bovine liver, SRM 1577b; National Institute of
Standards and Technology, Gaithensburg, Maryland, USA), which gave the value
0.739/0.03 mg/g, compared with the certified value of 0.739/0.06 mg/g.

Results and discussion

The selenium content in various Japanese foods is presented in Table I. Low selenium
content was present in the cereal product, especially in the traditional foods consumed
in Japan, such as rice, udon and Japanese rice cake (1/5 mg/100 g). The high-
selenium source of cereal products was found in bread and macaroni (17.4 and
44.9 mg/100 g).
Fish product, except hanpen and Satsuma-age , are considered as the rich selenium
source for Japanese people. The highest selenium concentration was obtained
from dried bonito fish (273.5 mg/100 g). The overall means of the fish product was
Downloaded By: [CSIR eJournals Consortium] At: 07:42 25 August 2009

61.38 mg/100 g.
A moderate level of selenium concentration found in meat products and egg (13.6 /
95.4 mg/100 g). Meanwhile, dairy products except for processed cheese have a low
level of selenium content (1 /3.3 mg/100 g). A similar result also obtained from
vegetables and fruits. Selenium content of vegetables and fruits were low and in a
very wide range from 0.2 mg/100 g in Japanese ginger to 8.5 mg/100 g in water
dropwort.
The selenium content of animal species is relatively higher than that of plant
species. The low selenium status in vegetables and fruits is because plant species do
not require selenium for growth. This is very different to animal species, where
selenium is an essential element and the animal cannot survive if the tissue levels of
selenium are too low (Barclay et al. 1995). Moreover, the low protein fraction in plant
products may decrease the selenium level in the plant, since food selenium is mainly
present in the form of selenoamino acids (Navarro-Alarcón and López-Martinez
2000). In cruciferous vegetables (such as onion and garlic) the selenium level is higher
than in other vegetables, because these plants have a greater fraction of sulfur-
containing amino acids and their derivatives, and also sulfur-containing compounds
such as glucosinolates or sulfoxides (Klapec et al. 2004). Adequate analogs of these
can be formed by substitution of sulfur with selenium, resulting in a higher selenium
level (Ip and Ghanter 1994).
The selenium level in mushrooms is also above the average selenium level in other
vegetables. However, mushrooms mainly accumulate inorganic forms of selenium
(Klapec et al. 2004).
The mean level of selenium in cereal products (except bread and macaroni) in Japan
is lower than other countries (Table II); especially in rice, the staple food consumed in
Japan. The low level of selenium in Japanese rice might be related to the selenium
concentration in the soil in Japan; it is generally below 1 mg/kg (Mizutani et al. 2001).
In contrast, the mean levels of selenium in meat and fish products are among the
highest values reported in other countries. Fish and meat products provide a
significant part of the Japanese people’s dietary selenium, but the bioavailability of
selenium in fish must also considered, because the interaction of selenium with
mercury and other heavy metals present in fish and marine animals may form
 466 R. Abdulah et al.
Table I. Selenium concentration in selected Japanese foods.

Selenium content (mg/100 g)

Previous report (Suzuki

Food item n Present study and Tanusi 1993)

Cereal products
Mochi (rice cake) 1 2.2 2.0
White bread 2 44.99/1.3 6.0
Udon , boiled (Japanese traditional noodle) 4 4.39/1.0 /
Chinese noodle, boiled 1 5.7 8.0 (raw)
Macaroni, boiled 1 17.4 21.0 (raw)
Rice, cooked 4 1.39/0.5 4.0 (raw)
Potato products
Konnyaku , block type (alimentary yam paste) 5 1.69/0.7 2.0
Shirataki , noodle type (alimentary yam paste, 3 1.59/0.2 2.0
in noodle form)
Potatoes, boiled 1 0.5 1.0 (raw)
Downloaded By: [CSIR eJournals Consortium] At: 07:42 25 August 2009

Sweet potatoes 7 3.19/0.7 4.0 (raw)

Taro, boiled 2 1.49/0.5 1.0 (raw)
Seeds
Sesame seeds, roasted 1 24.4 42.0 (dried)
Chestnuts, boiled 1 0.8 3.0 (raw)
Soybean products
Nama-age (drained tofu) 1 7.5 5.0
Abura-age (fried tofu) 3 6.19/1.3 7.0
Itohiki-natto (fermented soybeans) 8 15.99/5.1 2.0
Kinzanji-miso (fermented soybeans paste) 1 4.5 /
Okara (bean card refuse) 1 2.9 3.0
Momen-tofu (cotton tofu) 1 2.9 3.0
Fish products
Katsuo-bushi , dried strip (dried bonito fish) 4 273.59/0.6 250.0
Red Bream, cooked 4 85.09/13.9 160.0 (raw)
Salted chum Salmon, grilled 3 45.19/6.0 67.0 (raw)
Yellow fin Tuna, raw 1 59.1 81.0
Salted Pink Salmon, grilled 1 31.1 36.0 (raw)
Pond smelt, grilled 1 80.6 100.0 (raw)
Short-necked Clam, canned 2 78.29/8.6 380.0
Salted Jellyfish 1 12.7 /
Mushi-kamaboko (steamed fish paste) 2 18.69/4.4 84.0
Yaki-chikuwa , boiled (fish sausage) 8 21.39/4.4 68.0
Hanpen , boiled (minced fish and steamed) 1 8.3 45.0
Satsuma-age , fried (minced fish and steamed 4 9.39/1.2 55.0
with vegetable paste)
Salted Pollack roe 3 97.79/29 170.0
Scallop, cooked 1 45.5 93.0 (raw)
Squid and Cuttlefish, grilled 5 63.69/15 38.0 (raw)
Tiger Prawn, boiled 1 89.2 58.0 (raw)
Octopus, boiled 2 48.39/2.8 34.0 (raw)
Sardines, cooked 2 34.99/11 52.0 (raw)
Flatfish, cooked 1 66.3 31.0 (raw)
Mackerel, grilled 2 62.79/19.1 19.0 (raw)
Pacific saury, grilled 3 55.99/14.8 47.0 (raw)
Pacific saury, canned 1 63.4 310.0
 Daily intake of selenium in Japan 467
Table I (Continued )
Selenium content (mg/100 g)

Previous report (Suzuki

Food item n Present study and Tanusi 1993)

Meats
Pork liver, grilled 1 95.4 29.0 (raw)
Pork ham, grilled 3 38.29/9.1 20.0 (raw)
Beef round, grilled 1 25.7 25.0 (raw)
Chicken breast, grilled 2 13.69/0.8 22.0 (raw)
Milk and dairy products
Milk 6 2.09/0.8 4.0
Milk, skimmed 1 3.3 3.0
Processed Cheese 1 24.7 17.0
Yoghurt 3 1.79/0.6 3.0
Lactic acid bacteria beverage 2 1.09/0.0 1.0
Egg, boiled 4 37.39/3.4 57.0 (raw)
Dashimaki-tamago (Japanese Eggrolls) 12 25.7 34.0
Downloaded By: [CSIR eJournals Consortium] At: 07:42 25 August 2009

Vegetables
Perilla leaves 1 7.0 2.0
Perilla seeds 2 1.6 8.0
Japanese Radish, sprouts 1 6.5 /
Takana-zuke (green mustard rinse with pepper) 2 0.79/0.1 3.0
Bamboo shoots, canned 1 5.0 1.0
Lettuce 1 0.7 1.0
Tomato 4 0.39/0.2 1.0
Garlic bulb 1 2.3 /
Onion leaves 1 2.1 2.0
Myoga bract and flower (Japanese ginger) 2 0.29/0.1 1.0
Chinese cabbage, raw 1 1.3 3.0
Chinese cabbage, boiled 2 0.89/0.2 /
Chinese cabbage, salted 3 2.39/0.7 /
Sweet pepper, grilled 7 1.69/0.8 /
Broccoli, boiled 1 0.8 /
Spinach, boiled 5 1.39/0.6 /
Soybean sprouts, boiled 2 1.59/0.1 /
Okra pods immature 1 0.6 2.0
Turnip root, salted 1 0.2 4.0
Red turnip, root 2 0.4 /
Squash, cooked 5 2.89/1.4 2.0 (raw)
Cauliflower, boiled 1 1.0 1.0 (raw)
Chrysanthemum flower, boiled 3 0.39/0.1 3.0 (raw)
Cabbage, raw 3 1.39/0.1 1.0
Cucumber 6 0.79/0.3 1.0
Edible burdock, cooked 2 1.69/0.4 1.0 (raw)
Komatsuna leaves, boiled 1 1.2 2.0
Garland chrysanthemum leaves 1 1.7 /
Ginger 1 6.9 1.0
Oriental pickling melon, salted 1 1.1 3.0
Water dropwort 1 8.5 6.0
Japanese radish leaves, boiled 2 3.09/0.1 5.0 (raw)
Japanese radish root 5 0.3 1.0
Japanese radish root, boiled 3 0.7 /
Takuen-zuke radish, salted 3 0.39/0.1 1.0
Snap beans pods immature (boiled) 3 1.49/0.4 2.0 (raw)
Onion 2 2.29/1.2 /
 468 R. Abdulah et al.
Table I (Continued )
Selenium content (mg/100 g)

Previous report (Suzuki

Food item n Present study and Tanusi 1993)

Eggplant, raw 6 2.79/1.0 1.0

Eggplant, salted 1 2.9 /
Carrot 13 1.79/1.0 /
Nozawana leaves 2 1.09/0.7 /
Fruits
Umezuke (salted apricot) 1 0.9 6.0
Umeboshi (salted and dried apricot) 3 1.09/0.5 5.0
Banana 4 1.19/0.5 1.0
Grape 1 0.1 1.0
Apple 15 0.39/0.3 /
Orange 3 0.2 1.0
Japanese persimmons 3 0.29/0.1 1.0
Japanese pear 2 0.59/0.1 /
Downloaded By: [CSIR eJournals Consortium] At: 07:42 25 August 2009

Mushroom
Bunasimeji 2 9.59/0.0 /
Champignon, canned 1 11.5 /
Nameko , raw 1 4.8 /
Maitake , cooked 1 9.1 /
Enokitake , cooked 2 2.19/0.1 /
Jew’s ear black, reconstituted 1 6.4 8.0 (dried)
Shiitake , cooked 2 1.99/0.6 /
Shiitake , raw and reconstituted 1 6.2 11.0 (dried)
Houkitake 1 22.8 /
Amitake 1 6 /
Seaweed products
Kelp, dried 2 2.39/1.1 /
Konbu-tsukudani (dried kelp boiled in soy sauce) 1 5.49/0.6 8.0
Hijiki , reconstituted (seaweed species) 2 3.99/0.0 3.0 (dried)
Hitoguesa (seaweed species) 1 7.7 11.0
Wakame , blanched and salted (seaweed species) 1 1.2 4.0

insoluble inorganic complexes and reduce the bioavailability of selenium it self

(Robinson and Thomson 1983; Johnston and Savage 1991).
The daily intake of selenium in Japan is higher than the recommended value: 104
mg/day (Suzuki et al. 1988) and 69 mg/day (Moriyama et al. (1993). But the daily
intake of selenium from rice or other staple food in Japan is low; however, the Japanese
still consume high selenium from fish, meat and other imported food. In addition,
many fish products and meat products in Japan are taken from the sea outside Japan or
are even imported from the USA, which is one of the high-selenium regions in the
world.
The limitation of this study was the very small sample size (n /1) in some of the
foods. We tried to analyze daily foods consumed in a regular Japanese family; since
they consumed a variety of foods, we were only able to collect a very small sample size
in some of the food items. A follow-up study is needed in order to monitoring the daily
intake of selenium with more variety of foods and bigger sample size.
Downloaded By: [CSIR eJournals Consortium] At: 07:42 25 August 2009

Table II. Comparison of selenium data of selected foods in various countries.

Source of data and selenium content (mg/100 g)

Croatia (Klapec United Kingdom New Zealand (Thomson Slovakia (Kadrabova Ireland (Murphy and North Dakota Present
Food et al. 2004) (Barclay et al. 1995) and Robinson 1990) et al. 1996) Cashman 2001) (Finley et al. 1996) study

Rice 4.05 13 2.6 3.4 / 33.5 1.3

Bread 4.77 4.4 1 1.76 6.6 22.8 44.9
Potato 0.95 1.6 0.29 0.35 / / 0.5
Beef 13.1 7.6 / 2.34 8.1 37.1 25.7
Pork 18.35 14 3.1 6.87 10.4 35.4 38.2
Chicken 16.28 / 12 12.32 11.5 34.9 13.6
Tuna 85.92 / / / 70.1 / 59.1
Sardines 57.1 / 32 / / / 34.9
Milk 4.09 1.5 0.6 0.71 / / 2.0
Processed cheese 5.34 6.7 3.4 2.25 6.1 / 24.7

Daily intake of selenium in Japan

Yoghurts 2.99 1.45 0.68 / / / 1.7
Eggs (whole) 17.73 / 18 21.52 / 47 37.3
Cabbage 6.61 / 0.09 1.66 / / 1.3
Cauliflower 2.44 / 0.17 0.22 / / 1.0
Lettuce 1.45 / 0.27 0.09 / / 0.7
Onion 1.53 / 0.16 0.58 / / 2.2
Tomato 0.79 / 0.2 0.05 / / 0.3
Apple 0.88 / 0.09 0.14 / / 0.3
Banana 2.03 / 0.91 0.58 / / 1.1
Orange 0.76 / 0.12 0.13 / 2.5 0.2

469
 470 R. Abdulah et al.

Conclusion
This study was undertaken to evaluate the selenium content of commonly consumed
foods in Japan. Within the limitations, this paper provides a comparison of food
selenium concentrations with those of other countries. In summary, these data show
that selenium concentrations for the same food are highly variable in each area,
depending on the selenium concentration in soil, which varies regionally. It appears
that rice (as the staple food consumed in Japan) and vegetables do not contain as
much selenium as other countries. Although the Japanese still consume high selenium
levels from meat products, special attention must be given to vegetarian people
because they do not consume animal-based food products.

References
Arteel GE, Mostert V, Oubrahim H, Briviba K, Abel J, Sies H. 1998. Protection by SeP in human plasma
Downloaded By: [CSIR eJournals Consortium] At: 07:42 25 August 2009

against peroxynitrite-mediated oxidation and nitration. Biol Chem 379:1201 /1205.

Arteel GE, Franken S, Kappler J, Sies H. 2000. Binding of Selenoprotein P to heparin: characterization with
surface plasmon resonance. Biol Chem 381:265 /268.
Barclay MNI, MacPherson A, Dixon J. 1995. Selenium content of a range of UK foods. J Food Compost
Anal 8:307 /318.
Combs GF, Jr, Gray WP. 1988. Chemopreventive agents: selenium. Pharmacol Ther 79:179 /192.
Combs GF, Jr, Clark LC, Turnbull BW. 1997. Reduction of cancer risk with an oral supplement of
selenium. Biomed Environ Sci 10:227 /234.
Finley JW, Matthys L, Shuler T, Korynta E. 1996. Selenium content of food purchased in North Dakota.
Nutr Res 16(5):723 /728.
Heliovaara M, Knekt P, Aho K, Aaran RK, Alfthan G, Aromaa A. 1994. Serum antioxidants and risk of
rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis 53:51 /53.
Ip C, Ghanter HE. 1994. Novel strategies in selenium cancer chemoprevention research. In: Burk RF,
editor. Selenium in biology and human health. New York: Springer-Verlag. pp 169 /180.
Johnston JN, Savage GP. 1991. Mercury consumption and toxicity with reference to fish and fish meal. Nutr
Abstr Rev 61:73 /116.
Kadrabova J, Madaric A, Ginter E. 1996. The selenium content of selected food from the Slovak Republic.
Food Chem 58(1 /2):29 /32.
Klapec T, Mandic ML, Grgic J, Primorac Lj, Perl A, Krstanovic V. 2004. Selenium in selected foods grown
or purchased in Eastern Croatia. Food Chem 85:445 /452.
Look MP, Rockstroh JK, Rao GS, Kreuzer KA, Spengler U, Sauerbruch T. 1997. Serum selenium versus
lymphocyte subsets and markers of disease progression and inflammatory response in human
immunodeficiency virus-1 infection. Biol Trace Elem Res 56(1):31 /41.
Mizutani T, Kanaya K, Osaka T. 2001. Map of selenium content in soil in Japan. J Health Sci 47(4):407 /
413.
Moriyama N, Wu H, Watanabe S. 1993. Estimation of dietary intake of selenium by female adults using the
duplicate portion method. Jpn Soc Nutr Food Sci 46:434 /437.
Moser PB, Reynolds RD, Acharya S, Howard MP, Andon MB, Lewis SA. 1988. Copper, iron, zinc and
selenium dietary intake and status of Nepalese lactating women and their breast-fed infants. Am J Clin
Nutr 47:729 /734.
Murphy J, Cashman KD. 2001. Selenium content of a range of Irish foods. Food Chem 74:493 /498.
National Research Council, Food and Nutrition Board. 1989. Recommended dietary allowances. 10th ed.
Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Navarro-Alarcón M, López-Martı́nez MC. 2000. Essentiality of selenium in the human body: relationship
with different diseases. Sci Total Environ 249:347 /371.
Neve J. 1996. Selenium as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. J Cardiovasc Risk 3:42 /47.
Robinson MF, Thomson CD. 1983. The role of selenium in the diet. Nutr Abstr Rev 53:3 /26.
Suzuki Y, Tanusi S. 1993. Table of trace element contents in Japanese foodstuffs. Tokyo: Dai-ichi Shuppan
Publishing.
 Daily intake of selenium in Japan 471
Suzuki T, Imai H, Kobayashi K, Hongo T, Kashiwazaki H, Ohtsuka R, Suzuki H, Ishida H. 1988. Dietary
intake of selenium in Japan-An estimation from analytical and reported values of selenium in foodstuffs
and cooked dishes. Nihon Eiyo Shokuryo Gakkai Shi 41:91 /102.
Thomson CD, Robinson MF. 1990. Selenium content of foods consumed in Otago, New Zealand. NZ Med
J 103:130 /135.
Thorn J, Robertson J, Buss DH, Bunton NG. 1978. Trace nutrients: selenium in British food. Br J Nutr
39:391 /396.
Watkinson JH. 1966. Fluorometric determination of selenium in biological material with 2,3-Diamino-
naphthalene. Anal Chem 38(1):92 /97.
Willet W. 1988. Nutritional epidemiology. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. p 24.
Downloaded By: [CSIR eJournals Consortium] At: 07:42 25 August 2009