Effect of supplementation with different sources of selenium on mammary gland health and quality of biofortified milk

• Grant number: 24/06813-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Arlindo Saran Netto
• Grantee: Fabiana Ayumi Shiozaki
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/07131-0 - Biofortification of milk with selenium: effect on nutritional bioavailability and action on human health, AP.TEM

Abstract

Cow's milk is one of the most important foods in human nutrition as it provides appreciable amounts of essential nutrients for our body and at an affordable cost for all social classes. In the biofortification process, nutrients are offered to lactating cows, which produce differentiated milk and this has been tested for human nutrition and health. The antioxidant action of selenium, which is involved in cellular protection against attack by reactive oxygen species, can be of great importance for health. The present project aims to research the use of biofortified milk obtained by supplementing different sources of selenium in the diet of dairy cows in human consumption, where the speciation of the micronutrient selenium in milk will originate from three different forms (amino acid, yeast and inorganic) of supplementation in cow feed. There is currently a great demand for biofortified foods and few studies investigating the response of their action on animal and human nutrition and health. This Milk Biofortification project is important because it responds to public policies and directly integrates animal husbandry research with nutrition and applied human medicine research, as well as covering the entire dairy production chain and being able to contribute in the future with scientific evidence of more nutritious food for health. human.