Organoselenium Compounds as Phytochemicals from the Natural Kingdom

Abstract

Selenium is naturally present in soils but it is also produced by pollution from human activities into the environment. Its incorporation into plants affords organoselenium metabolites that, depending on the nature of the molecules and the plant species, can be incorporated into proteins, stored or eliminated by volatilization. The possibility to use the selenium metabolism of some plants as a method for bioremediation and, at the main time, as a source of selenated phytochemicals is here discussed taking into consideration the growing interest in organic selenium derivatives as new potential therapeutic agents.