Abstract: A method for the determination of 5 selenium species (SeCys2, SeMC, Se(IV), SeMet, and Se(VI)) in selenium-enriched tea was established using high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS). A Hamilton PRP-X100 column was used to separate the five compounds using citric acid as the mobile phase. Quantification was performed by the external standard method. The five selenium compounds were ultrasonically extracted using 1 mL of protease K (10 mg/mL) for 60 minutes, and then separated with gradient?elution in 15 min. The correlation coefficients of the standard curves were larger than 0.999 8, and the limits of detection (LODs) were in the range of 0.13–1.09 μg/L. The spiked recoveries ranged from 91.8% to 109.4%. The method allowed simultaneous determination of selenium compounds in selenium-enriched?tea with simple and convenient operation, efficient separation and low detection limit.

Key words: high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, selenium, speciation analysis, selenium-enriched?tea