Selenium Supplementation in Horticultural Crops

1       INTRODUCTION

2       THE ROLE OF SELENIUM IN HUMAN NUTRITION

2.1      Selenium as an essential element

2.1.1           Symptoms of selenium deficiency in human body

2.1.2           Selenium presence and transport in human organism

2.1.3           Biochemical function of selenium in the human body

2.2      Occurrence of selenium in nature and its potential sources

2.2.1           Selenium occurrence in soil (selenium content in soils of the Slovak Republic, selenium forms in soil, soil properties affecting selenium mobility and uptake)

2.2.2           Selenium occurrence in water

2.2.3           Selenium occurrence in air

2.3     Entering selenium into the food chain

2.3.1           Selenium uptake and transport in the plant (biosynthesis of selenocysteine)

2.3.2           Incorporation of selenium into proteins

2.3.3           Distribution of selenium in the plant

2.3.4           Transformation of selenium in the plant

2.3.5           Selenium content in food of plant origin

     2.4      Options of selenium supplementation in food chain

        2.4.1        Possibilities of selenium biofortification of horticultural crops

 

3       METHODS FOR DETERMINATION OF SELENIUM IN FOODSTUFFS

3.1      Methods for the determination of inorganic selenium compounds (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS), Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry (HG-AFS), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI), Neutron activation analysis, Electroanalytical methods, Fluorometry, Separation techniques, Our analyses were performed by ET-AAS method with Zeeman background correction)

3.2      Methods for the determination of organic selenium compounds (High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Gas Chromatography (GC), Electrophoresis, Autoradiography)

4       SELENIUM UPTAKE BY SELECTED VEGETABLE

SPECIES AFTER FORTIFICATION OF THE GROWING SUBSTRATE

4.1     Garden pea (Pisum sativum L.)

4.1.1           Pot experiments in the Phytochamber

4.1.1.1      Correlation of Se content in soil and in the pea plant

4.1.1.2      Transfer factor and transfer index (Selenium use efficiency by plant, Selenium balance in pea plants)

4.1.2           Pot experiments in outdoor conditions

4.1.2.1      Correlation of Se content in soil and pea plant (Monitoring of phytotoxic effect of selenium)

4.1.2.2      Transfer factor and transfer index (Selenium use efficiency by plant, Selenium balance in pea plants)

4.2      Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.)

4.2.1           Field trials with soil fortification and foliar application of selenium

4.3      Selenium accumulation in various vegetable species after soil biofortification

5       SELENIUM UPTAKE BY SELECTED VEGETABLE

SPECIES AFTER FOLIAR APPLICATION

5.1      Garden pea (Pisum sativum L

5.1.1           Selenium content

5.1.2           Selected qualitative parameters after foliar treatment with selenium (total polyphenol content, chlorophylls content, antioxidant activity)

5.2      Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica)

5.2.1           Selenium content

5.2.2           Selected qualitative parameters after foliar treatment with selenium (total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity, vitamin C content, chlorophylls content, carotenoids content, sulforaphane content)

5.2.3           Effect of foliar application of selenium on quantitative parameters (yield, average weight (AW) of florets)

5.3      Basil (Ocimum spp.)

5.3.1           Selenium content

5.3.2           Selected qualitative parameters after foliar treatment with selenium (total polyphenol content, essential oils content, chlorophylls content, antioxidant activity)

5.3.3           Effect of foliar application of selenium on quantitative parameters (yield)

5.4      Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)

5.4.1           Selenium content

5.4.2           Selected qualitative parameters after foliar treatment with selenium (total carotenoids content, vitamin C content, total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity)

5.4.3           Effect of foliar application of selenium on quantitative parameters (refractometric dry mater, yield)

5.5      Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus)

5.5.1           Selenium content

5.5.2           Selected qualitative parameters after foliar treatment with selenium (total polyphenol content, total glucan content, antioxidant activity)

6         CHANGES OF SELENIUM CONTENT IN EDIBILITIES DURING THE PROCESSING

7       CONCLUSION