Chiral speciation of selenoamino acids and selenium enriched samples using HPLC coupled to ICP-MS

The chiral separation of nine selenoamino acids using a crown ether HPLC column coupled to ICP-MS for detection is described. Three different temperatures were investigated for the separation of the enantiomers of individual amino acids and for a mixture of eight selenoamino acids. Although complete resolution was not achieved, better resolution of the mixture was obtained at higher temperatures. Selenium enriched onion, garlic and yeast were also analyzed. Two different extraction methods for the samples are compared; water extraction and a pepsin enzymatic extraction. Some of the selenoamino acid enantiomers are identified for the different extraction methods. Comparison is also made with earlier reported ion pairing separations for some of these selenoamino acids.