 |
|
|
|||||
|
|
August 31, 2006 NDSU Selenium Research Aiding Indian Tribes North Dakota State University research is helping area Indian tribes develop bison with cancer-fighting meat. Kevin Sedivec, NDSU Extension Service rangeland management specialist, has been evaluating the selenium content of vegetation and soils at five sites where the tribes raise bison. Selenium is a mineral found in cretaceous shale soils. Research indicates its antioxidant properties help prevent the development of some cancers, such as colon, stomach and pancreas, as well as other chronic ailments, including heart disease. One European study showed selenium can reduce the risk of colon cancer by 60 percent. Selenium accumulates in the vegetation growing in the cretaceous shale soils. From there, it transfers to the animals that eat the plants. “If the parent material doesn’t have high-selenium content, then the meat product won’t, either,” Sedivec says. His study is a collaborative effort involving two North Dakota tribal colleges - Fort Berthold Community College and Sitting Bull College in Fort Yates - and Sinte Gleska University in Mission, S.D. It’s part of a $4.1 million, three-year U.S. Department of Agriculture natural resources management project to demonstrate the importance of natural resources. Sedivec, with help from some NDSU graduate students, also took blood and hair samples from the bison. He found those samples match well with the vegetation and soil samples. Bison with high levels of selenium in their hair and blood grazed in areas with high levels of the mineral in the vegetation and soil. He also found that selenium levels are quite variable, even in the same area. For example, of the two Fort Berthold sites he tested, one has low selenium levels, while the other has very high levels. That information will help the tribes select the best sites for grazing their herds to capture the most selenium, he says. He believes knowing where to find the highest selenium levels is important for two reasons: The selenium will provide health benefits to the tribal members who eat the bison meat, and tribes will have an opportunity to create a business that markets a healthful product. This study is a follow-up to research NDSU and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service’s Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center conducted in the late 1990s on selenium in small-grain crops fed to beef cattle. The aim of the earlier project was to develop beef products with high-selenium content for human consumption. Bison appear to be a better subject for selenium testing than beef cattle. “We don’t think bison is as susceptible to selenium toxicity,” Sedivec says. The next step in this research project is for Sedivec to obtain some bison meat samples to test for selenium. “The hair has it, so we would assume the muscle has it,” he says. Meanwhile, the research has gained national attention. The USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service has featured the project in the latest episode of “Partners,” its video magazine. To view the story, visit www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/partners/partners.html. ### Source:
Kevin Sedivec, (701) 231-7647, ksedivec@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Cutline: NDSU Extension rangeland management specialist Kevin Sedivec examines hair samples he and some graduate students collected from bison. Sedivec is studying the correlation between selenium found in soils and vegetation, and in bison hair and blood. The research will help area Indian tribes raise bison with the cancer and other disease-fighting properties that selenium provides. |
Market Advisor: |
|
North Dakota State University |
