The Effect of Selenium Application on Plant Health Indicators of Garden Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Varieties

Abstract

This study evaluates the effects of different selenium levels (VI) in the form of sodium selenate (25, 50, 150 and 300 mg.dm–3) on the selected parametres in seedlings of garden pea (Pisum sativumL.) varieties (‘Flavora‘, ‘Oskar‘, ‘Exzellenz’ and ‘Jumbo‘) grown in Petri dishes. Tested indicators included seed germination, roots length, content of photosynthetic pigments – chlorophyll a and b, green biomass weight in early growth stages and acute toxicity expressed as IC50value. The study has proved a significant positive effect of selenium. During the germination, selenium doses reached 25 mg.dm–3in ‘Exzellenz’ (100 %) and ‘Flavora’ (95 %) varieties; and 50 mg.dm–3in ‘Oskar’ (the germination began 54 hours after sowing) and ‘Exzellenz’ (the germination began 48 hours after sowing) compared with a control sample. Regarding the root growth, ‘Oskar’ variety may be considered as the most resistant variety considering the value of acute phytotoxicity determined by probit analysis (1274.1 mg.dm–3). Statistically significant effect of selenium on photosynthetic pigments content has been recorded in ‘Jumbo’ and ‘Oskar’ varieties (chlorophyll a with IC50values of 1808 and 2440.1 mg.dm–3). Selenium showed a statistically significant negative effect on biomass weight and the lowest doses of acute phytotoxicity were recorded (29.9 – 42.5 mg.dm–3). The results of acute phytotoxicity confirmed that utilized levels of selenate between 50 and 100 mg.dm–3of garden pea plants are the safest for foliar application.