Nithyapriya Manivannan, a PhD student from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the ALBA Synchrotron, defended yesterday her PhD thesis entitled "Study of selenium biofortified functional food: interactions and competing mechanisms among different elements using synchrotron analytical techniques". The defense was hold in the Maxwell Auditorium of the ALBA Synchrotron in a semi-presential mode. The thesis has been supervised by Dr. Laura Simonelli from ALBA and Dr. Roberto Boada and Prof. Manuel Valiente from the UAB, with strong support of Prof. Mercè Llugany Ollé from the UAB plant physiology department.

Nithya's thesis address the selenium biofortification of wheat as it is one of the three major cereals crops consumed and produced around the world, along with rice and maize. Indeed, selenium plays a vital role in regulating the metabolic activities in humans as it is needed for the thyroid gland functioning, effective immune response, fertility and detoxification of free radicals [1]. For the human metabolism, seleno-amino acids are acquired from external dietary sources and one of their major sources is crops, where the selenium content depends on the its presence in the cultivation soil but it is occasionally too low to satisfy the human needs. Selenium enriched functional-foods [2] have emerged as an appealing biofortification solution which is already used for common crops, for example, in southern Finland [3].

To optimize the selenium biofortified food efficiency and to reduce the risks of undesired toxicity, it is essential to understand the selenium transformation through its metabolization pathways. In addition, considering that the human activity increases the global soil pollution, it is also critical to assess the effect of the contaminants into the biofortification process. Indeed, some studies have proven that the selenium uptake by the plant is influenced by the presence of pollutants and, in some cases, the strong interaction between selenium and certain pollutants prevents these contaminants present in the soil from reaching the grains.