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 (Brassi