Production of Organically Selenium Yeast by Fermentation and Analysis by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry

Objectives: The objective of this study was to perform selenium yeast production and analyze the selenium and protein contained in selenium yeast obtained. Methods: Selenium yeast production was carried out by incubating the stationary phase culture of yeast with selenium solution for 24 hr, and yeast biomass was dried by Freeze-dryer to produce selenium yeast in powder form, then the selenium yeast was determined to the selenium content with atomic absorption spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 196 nm and protein content analyzing by the Bradford method at a wavelength of 595 nm using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Results: Selenium yeast production reached 2.5 g of selenium yeast in powder form. The selenium and protein content of selenium yeast was 4258.0096 (±278.39) µg Se/g and 0.8505 (±0.0045) mg/mL, respectively. The method was easy, simple, and can prove that selenium yeast can still be produced and analyzed for the selenium and protein content. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that production of selenium yeast in the form of dry powder could be carried out using the stationary phase culture of S. cerevisiae incubated with 30 μg/mL selenium solution, and the resulting selenium yeast can be analyzed for selenium content using atomic absorption spectrophotometer and protein content by Bradford method using UV-Vis spectrophotometer.