Methylselenized glucose: An efficient organoselenium fertilizer enhancing the selenium content in wheat grains

Abstract

Selenium (Se) is an essential mineral element for human and other animals, and has been proved to improve plant growth and development and tolerance to different abiotic stresses. Selenium biofortification is considered to be a key strategy to increase the selenium content of edible parts of crops, which is helpful for improving human health. In this work, foliar fertilization with different concentrations and selenium forms was carried out on two wheat varieties at the flowering stage to compare the selenium enrichment effect of Na2SeO3, methylselenized selenocysteine (MSC), methylselenized glucose (MSG) and methylselenized lactide (MSL) in wheat grains. Surprisingly, MSG was found to be the preferable fertilizer. After the application of MSG, the highest selenium content in wheat gains reached 6 mg/kg in this experiment, and the average selenium content was 2–4 times versus that of Na2SeO3 application. Since MSG has high utilization rate and is easily available at relatively low cost, it can be employed as a potential selenium source for selenium biofortification to enhance the added value of agricultural industry.