Biofortification of baby leafy vegetables using nutrient solution containing selenium

Background: Biofortification of vegetables is an important innovation technique in the horticultural sector. Vegetables can be a vector of different minor elements that have beneficial effects on human health. Selenium (Se) is an important element for human nutrition and plays a significant role in defense mechanisms. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of Se in the nutrient solutions on the crop biofortification ability, yield, and quality parameters of four baby leaf vegetables destined to the minimally processed industry. Experiments were performed on lamb's lettuce, lettuce, rocket, and spinach. These crops were cultivated in the floating systems with nutrient solution enriched with 0, 2.6, 3.9 and 5.2 μmol L-1 Se provided as sodium selenate. Results: At harvest, selenium concentrations, yield, nitrate concentration, sugars, and some mineral elements were measured. Data collected and analyses showed that yield, nitrate, sucrose, and reducing sugars were not affected by Se treatments, even if varied among species. Se concentrations linearly increased in leaves of different species by increasing the Se concentration in the nutrient solution. Rocket was the species with the highest accumulation ability and reached the concentration of 11 μg g-1 FW Se in plants grown with 5.2 μmol L-1 Se. Conclusion: Floating system with Se enriched nutrient solution is an optimal controlled growing biofortification system for leafy vegetables. The accumulation ability decreased in different species in the following order rocket, spinach, lettuce, lamb's lettuce, highlighting a crop dependent behaviour and their attitude to biofortification. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.