Effect of sodium selenate foliar supplementation on Cryptotaenia japonica and Petroselinum crispum nutritional characteristics and seed quality

Abstract

Production of functional food with high levels of selenium and other antioxidants is very valuable for human protection against different forms of oxidant stress. Among leafy vegetables parsley demonstrate the highest levels of antioxidants. Biochemical analysis and fluorimetric determination of selenium revealed that foliar biofortification of 4 parsley (Petroselinum crispum) cultivars and Mitsuba (Cryptotaenia japonica) with sodium selenate (25 mg L-1) resulted in the highest biofortification level in curly parsley cultivar Krasotka (102.9) which showed the highest leaf surface area, antioxidant activity (65 mg GAE g-1 d.w.) and flavonoids content (25.9 mg quercetin equivalent g-1 d.w.), and the increase by 1.4 times in carotene content and 1,5 times in total chlorophyll content. ICP-MS method of mineral composition evaluation recorded extremely high levels of B and Si in Mustuba, which increased due to Se supplementation by 1.23 and 1.46 times respectively. In a two-year experiment with control and Se-fortified, leafy parsley, cultivar Moskvichka reached high values of seed yield and viability, and seed Se content (6170 µg kg-1 d.w.). The results of the present investigation demonstrate high prospects of parsley and Mitsuba selenium biofortification for production of functional food with elevated levels of microelement and high antioxidant activity.