Abstract: Pork is an important meat product consumed by Chinese residents, and its quality directly affects the consumer experience and the high-quality development of the animal husbandry industry. As an essential trace element for humans and animals, selenium exerts its biological functions primarily through the synthesis of selenoproteins such as glutathione peroxidase, thioredoxin reductase, selenoprotein W, and deiodinase, playing a critical role in regulating pork quality. This review summarizes the existing forms, metabolic characteristics and core selenoprotein family functions of selenium, as well as the molecular mechanisms by which selenium and selenoproteins improve pork color, water-holding capacity, tenderness, lipid stability, and shelf life through pathways such as antioxidant pathways, mitochondrial function, muscle fiber remodeling, protein metabolism, and immune-inflammatory responses. Furthermore, it systematically analyzes the regulatory effects of different selenium sources, additive amounts, growth stages and synergistic nutrition on pork quality. The review highlights that organic selenium has high bioavailability and good safety, which can significantly increase muscle selenium deposition, enhance antioxidant capacity and retard post-slaughter quality deterioration. Appropriate levels of selenium can promote the transformation of muscle fibers into oxidative type, maintain mitochondrial structure and energy metabolism, inhibit inflammation and excessive protein degradation, and then improve the comprehensive quality of pork, providing references for selenium and selenoproteins in high-quality and efficient breeding of pigs and standardized production of selenium-enriched pork.

Key words: selenium, selenoproteins, biological basis, molecular mechanism, regulatory mechanism