Chicken with selenium helps to prevent cancer

Based on analysis of the bird"s nutritional requirements, researchers from Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Medellín and Premex S.A. carried out an experiment, which showed that the quality of meat increases when using organic selenium in the diet of broiler chicken.  

The project "Effects of selenium sources and concentration in productive parameters of broiler chicken and its accumulation in the meat", directed by Carlos Augusto Gonzales Sepúlveda, Professor in the Animal Production Department of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Medellín, proved that, when adding organic selenium to broiler chicken"s food, the mineral is accumulated in the meat, keeping its humidity, which improves the quality of the protein. According to the investigation, the consumption of this enriched food contributes to neutralize free radicals, agents that cause cancer, protecting human organisms against all type of infections, bacteria, virus and toxins.

Selenium, as a mineral supplement, is essential for domestic animals since it regulates important reproductive functions, physiological processes and muscular tissue formation, helping in the regulation of the metabolism through the promotion of normal growth and the generation of successful reproductive processes. In addition, this element is essential in the production of the enzyme Glutation peroxidasa.

According to Professor Gonzales Sepúlveda, minerals such as selenium, zinc, copper, among others, have been used for a long time as food supplement to complete human nutrition. That is why this investigation is important, since it demonstrates that it is possible to naturally enrich food products and make them more nutritive for the consumer.

For Javier Chica, Research and Measurement Manager at Premex S.A. corporation, the main achievement of this study is that, when using selenium organic sources, the nutritive content of meat and eggs is improved. In addition,  
"The experiment proved that there is a better immunologic performance in the birds, in other words, they are better prepared to deal with diseases. Likewise, water retention is better after the sacrifice of the animal, which means that more kilos of meat are possible to be obtained from the same amount of birds when they are fed with concentrate food enriched with selenium.  

The experiment
The experiment was conducted in 400 broiler cockerels Ross 308 by means of 10 treatments, one control group, and nine groups with different selenium sources and concentrations.
For this purpose, two organic (yeast) and one inorganic source (selenium selenite, which is very common in the diet of animals) were used. The measurement was made through three different concentrations, 0,1, 0,0, and 0,6 parts per million, a 1 gram equivalent per ton.

For the analysis, the fat composition of polinsaturated fatty acids in chicken meat was taken into account since it allows the profile to be modified easily by diet, same phenomenon occurs in eggs. According to Professor Carlos Gonzales Sepúlveda, "The highest value of nutrients of animal origin in nature is in eggs, that is why its biologic importance is used as a comparison point for different food; it is a reference point since it has the most complete aminoacid profile in nature.