The selenium content of Tempeh in Indonesia and its potential contribution to the dietary selenium requirements for adults

Publication date: Available online 23 May 2019Source: Journal of Food Composition and AnalysisAuthor(s): Syukria Kurniawati, Diah Dwiana Lestiani, Endah Damastuti, Muhayatun SantosoAbstractSelenium (Se) is one of the essential micronutrients and plays an important role in human metabolism. Tempeh, widely known as an Indonesian traditional food is a low-cost nutritious food that has the potential to be an important source of Se. In this research, the selenium content of Indonesian tempeh was analyzed using a specific and sensitive analytical technique Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) and used to determine the daily intake (DI) of Se from Tempeh. About 64 samples of tempeh were collected from several traditional markets in Java and the DI of Se determined based on the Tempeh consumption levels. In national scale, the DI levels of Se from tempeh were below all RDA values for men/women, pregnant and lactating women, with percentage about 9.99; 8.56 and 7.49% respectively. Even this DI value is low due to the low consumption rate (20.3 g/day), if tempeh consumed in a sufficient amount (100 g/day), it can fulfill about 50% of the RDA value without spending a lot of costs. Besides increasing the serving size of tempeh, a variety of foodstuffs consumed appropriately is also necessary to obtain a balanced diet.
Source: Journal of Food Composition and Analysis - Category: Food Science Source Type: research