Research in Medicine

Background: Adequate dietary intake of Selenium (Se) with regard to crucial role in the body functions and prevention of risk of cancers is more important. According to growth of world populations and soil erode inadequate daily intake of Se is an noticeable man concerns. Selenium enriched yeast (Se-yeast) as a good food supplements of Se with high organic and bio-available form of Se which imitate the dietary form of it (selenomethionine) has been mentioned nowadays. This paper has been reviewed the beneficial health effects of Se-yeast in food enrichment in order to compensate inadequate dietary intake of Se, production process and its effective variables, Se-yeast specification, bioavailability, stability and safety. Material and methods: This review article has been prepared with electronic searching keywords of Se, Se-yeast, production process, food enrichment, bioavailability, stability, safety, also cellular, animal, human as well as biotechnological studies between 97 full text of English ISI articles from 1983 till 2014. The Selection of articles were conducted according to the relevance with the aim of this paper. Moreover., the methodology and findings of all eligible articles were used. Results and discussion: According to the applicable potential of Se-yeast in food fortification, it could be act as a precursor in synthesis of selenoproteins and anti-cancer antigens in body. Hense, Se-yeast has been authorized as an additive for enrichment of different food categories to improve Se content of foods by FAD. Therefore, According to GRAS approval intake of 100µg/d Se-yeast is completely safe. Generally, due to lack of Se in different parts of Iran, Se-yeast could be used in food-chain fortification to compensate lack of dietary intake of Se.