Preparation of Selenium-Enriched Yeast by Re-Using Discarded Saccharomyces cerevisiae from the Beer Industry for Se-Supplemented Fodder Applications

Both inorganic and organic selenium (Se) can prevent and treat various diseases caused by Se deficiency. However, organic Se has less toxicity and a higher absorption rate than inorganic Se. In this study, inorganic Se (Na2SeO3) was bio-transformed into Se-enriched discarded beer yeast (Se-enriched DB-yeast) through fermentation accumulation by re-using discarded Saccharomyces cerevisiae from the beer industry for Se-enriched fodder application. Through a single-factor experiment and L9(34)-orthogonal test for optimization of fermentation conditions, the Se content and biomass of Se-enriched DB-yeast were calculated as 14.95 mg/L and 7.3 g/L, respectively, under the optimized condition. The total amino-acid content of Se-enriched DB-yeast was increased by 9.9% compared with that from DB yeast. Additionally, alkaline amino-acid content was increased, whereas acidic amino-acid and sulfur-containing amino-acid contents were decreased. Reducing capacity, hydroxyl radical removal capacity, and sulfhydryl content after treatment with H2O2 of the Se-enriched DB-yeast extracted protein were obviously increased compared with those of the DB-yeast extracted protein. Mouse and genetically improved farmed tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) (GIFT) bioassays showed that the Se sedimentation of organs and serum indexes after feeding Se-enriched DB-yeast-containing fodder were higher than those of DB-yeast-containing fodder. The half lethal dose (LD50) of Se-enriched DB-yeast (9260.0 mg/kg body weight (BW), 18.97 mg/kg of Se content, non-toxic level) was considerably higher than that of Na2SeO3 (20.0 mg/kg BW, 5.08 mg/kg of Se content, highly toxic level) against mouse. Therefore, Se-enriched yeast prepared by re-using discarded S. cerevisiae from beer industry fermentation accumulation has the potential to be a safe and effective Se-enriched fodder additive.