SELENIUM TREATMENT UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS AFFECTS MINERAL NUTRITION, YIELD AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF BULB ONION (Allium cepa L.)

Priit Põldma

Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia

Ulvi Moor

Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia

Tõnu Tõnutare

Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia

Koit Herodes

University of Tartu, Estonia

Riin Rebane

University of Tartu, Estonia



Abstract

The aim of the research was to find out how foliar selenium (Se) treatment in open field conditions affects plant nutrition, yield and bulb bioactive properties. 10, 50 or 100 μg·mL-1 Se, referred to as Se10, Se50 and Se100 treatments, was applied to onion ‘Hercules’ in 2008 and 2009. Bulb weight, total yield, content of total Se, free selenomethionine and selenomethylselenocysteine, total S, N, P, K, Ca and Mg, content of total phenolics, pungency and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were determined. All Se treatments significantly reduced bulb S content. The Se100 treatment had a tendency to decrease bulb size and yield. The Se50 treatment increased total Se content, total phenolics and TAC and had a tendency to increase the yield. A larger proportion of total Se was converted into organic compounds in the Se50 than in the Se100 treatment. In Se 10 treatment, bulb TAC was the highest among treatments in 2009. Considering both agronomic and human health benefits, Na2SeO4 solution at the rate of 50 μg·mL-1 Se can be recommended for bulb onion.

Keywords:

selenoamino acids, sulfur, total phenolics, pungency, antioxidant capacity

Abd El-Samad E.H., Khalifa R.Kh.M., Lashine Z.A., Shafeek M.R., 2011. Influence of urea fertilization and foliar application of some micronutrients on growth, yield and bulb quality of onion. Aust. J. Basic Appl. Sci. 5, 96–103.
Anthon G.E., Barrett D.M., 2003. Modified method for the determination of pyruvic acid with dinitrophenylhydrazine in the assessment of onion pungency. J. Sci. Food Agric. 83, 1210–1213.
Aro A., Alfthan G., Varo P., 1995. Effects of supplementation of fertilizers on human selenium status in Finland. Analyst 120, 841–843.
Benton J.J.(ed.), 2001. Plant analysis. In: Laboratory guide for conducting soil tests and plant analysis. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 191–245.
Broadley M.R., White P.J., Bryson R.J., Meacham M.C., Bowen H.C., Johnson S.E., Hawkesford M.J., McGrath S.P., Zhao F.-J., Breward N., Harriman M., Tucker M., 2006. Biofortification of UK food crops with selenium. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 65, 169–181.
Brown T.A., Shrift A., 1982. Selenium: toxicity and tolerance in higher plants. Biol. Rev. Camb. Philos. Soc. 57, 59–84.
Chope G.A., Terry L.A., 2009. Use of canonical variate analysis to differentiate onion cultivars by mineral content measured by ICP-AES. Food Chem. 115, 1108–1113.
Ducsay L., Ložek O., 2006. Effect of selenium foliar application on its content in winter wheat grain. Plant Soil Environ. 52, 78–82.
Ekelund N.G.A., Danilov R.A., 2001. The influence of selenium on photosynthesis and “lightenhanced dark respiration”(LEDR) in the flagellate Euglena gracilis after exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Aquat. Sci. 63, 457–465.
Fairweather-Tait S.J., Bao Y., Broadley M.R., Collings R., Ford D., Hesketh J.E., Hurst R., 2011.
Selenium in human health and disease. Antioxid. Redox Signal 14, 1337–1383.
Galdón B.R., González R.O., Rodríguez E.R., Romero C.D., 2008. Comparison of mineral and trace element contents in onion cultivars (Allium cepa L.). J. Sci. Food Agric. 88, 1554–1561.
Germ M., Kreft I., Stibilj V., Urbanc-Berčič O., 2007. Combined effects of selenium and drought on photosynthesis and mitochondrial respiration in potato. Plant Physiol. Biochem. 45, 62–167.
Hartikainen H., Ekholm P., Piironen V., Xue T., Koivu T., Yli-Halla M., 1997. Quality of the ryegrass and lettuce yields as affected by selenium fertilization. Agric. Food Sci. Finl. 6, 381−387.
Hertog M.G., Hollman P.C., Katan M.B., Kromhout D., 1993. Intake of potentially anticarcinogenic flavonoids and their determinants in adults in the Netherlands. Nutr. Cancer. 20, 21–29.
Ip C., Birringer M., Block E., Kotrebai M., Tyson J.F., Uden P.C., Lisk D.J., 2000. Chemical speciation influences comparative activity of selenium-enriched garlic and yeast in mammary cancer prevention. J. Agric. Food Chem. 48, 2062–2070.
Ip C., Ganther H.E., 1990. Activity of methylated forms of selenium in cancer prevention. Cancer Res. 50, 1206–1211.
Kantola M., Mand E., Viitak A., Juravskaja J., Purkunen R., Vartiainen T., Saarikoski S., Pasanen M., 1997. Selenium contents of serum and human milk from Finland and neighbouring countries. J. Trace Elem. Exp. Med. 10, 225–232.
Kápolna E., Fodor P., 2006. Speciation analysis of selenium enriched green onions (Allium fistulosum) by HPLC-ICP-MS. Microchem. J. 84, 56–62.
Klapec T., Mandić M.L., Grgić J., Primorac L., Ikić M., Lovrić T., Grgić Z., Herceg Z., 1998. Daily dietary intake of Se in eastern Croatia. Sci. Total Environ. 217, 127–136.
Knekt P., Järvinen R., Reunanen A., Maatela J., 1996. Flavonoid intake and coronary mortality in Finland: a cohort study. BMJ 312, 478–481.
Kopsell D.A., Randle W.M., 1997. Short-day onion cultivars differ in bulb selenium and sulfur accumulation which can affect bulb pungency. Euphytica 96, 385–390.
Kopsell D.A., Randle W.M., 1999. Selenium affects the S-alk(en)yl Cysteine Sulfoxides among short-day onion cultivars. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 124, 307–311.
Malbe M., Otstavel T., Kodis I., Viitak A., 2010. Content of selected micro and macro elements in dairy cows’ milk in Estonia. Agronomy Res. 8, 323–326.
Moldovan C., Ianculov I., Hădărugă N.G., Dumbravă D., Crăiniceanu E., Drugă M., Alda L., Moldovan G.Z., 2009. Influence of chlorophyll content from onion (Allium cepa) after selenium and zinc adding. J. Agroaliment. Proc. Technol. 15, 437–440.
Montes-Bayón M., Molet M.J., González E.B., Sanz-Medel A., 2006. Evaluation of different sample extraction strategies for selenium determination in selenium-enriched plants (Allium sativum and Brassica juncea) and Se speciation by HPLC-ICP-MS. Talanta 68, 1287–1293.
Moor U., Karp K., Põldma P., Asafova L., Starast M., 2006. Post-harvest disorders and mineral composition of apple fruits as affected by pre-harvest calcium treatments. Acta Agric. Scand., Sec. B. 56, 179–185.
National Strategy for Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases 2005–2020. http://www.who.int//fctc/reporting/Estonia_annex3_CVD_strategy.pdf (accessed August 29, 2012).
Põldma P., Tõnutare T., Viitak A., Luik A., Moor U., 2011. Effect of selenium treatment on mineral nutrition, bulb size, and antioxidant properties of garlic (Allium sativum L.). J. Agric. Food Chem. 59, 5498–5503.
Randle W.M., Kopsell D.E., Kopsell D.A., Snyder R.L., 1999. Total sulfur and sulfate accumulation in onion is affected by sulfur fertility. J. Plant Nutr. 22, 45−51.
Randle W.M., Lancaster J.E., Shaw M.L., Sutton K.H., Hay R.L., Bussard M.L., 1995. Quantifying onion flavour compounds responding to sulphur fertility – sulphur increases levels of alk(en)yl cysteine sulphoxides and biosynthetic intermediates. J. Am. Soc. Hortic. Sci. 120, 1075–1081.
Rayman M.P., 2000. The importance of selenium to human health. Lancet 365, 233–241.
Rayner M., Allender S., Scarborough P., 2009. Cardiovascular disease in Europe. Europ. J. Cardiovasc. Prev. Reh. 16(Suppl. 2): S43–S47.
Rebane R., Herodes K., Leito I., 2011. Analysis of selenomethylselenocysteine and selenomethionine by LC-ESI-MS/MS with diethyl ethoxymethylenemalonate derivatization. Analyst 136, 5241–5246.
Reimann C., Siewers U., Tarvainen T., Bityukova L., Eriksson J., Gilucis A., Gregorauskiene V., Lukashev V.K., Matinian N.N., Pasieczna A., 2003. Agricultural soils in Northern Europe: a geochemical atlas. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany, 279 p.
Rodrigues A.S., Fogliano V., Graziani G., Mendes S., Vale A.P., Gonçalves C., 2003. Nutritional value of onion regional varieties in Northwest Portugal. Electron. J. Environ., Agric. Food Chem. 2, 519–524.
Romero C.D., Blanco F.L., Sánchez P.H., Rodríguez E., Majem L.S., 2001. Serum selenium concentration in a representative sample of the Canarian population. Sci. Total Environ. 269, 65–73.
Schwimmer S., Weston W.J., 1961. Enzymatic development of pyruvic acid in onion as a measure of pungency. J. Agric. Food Chem. 9, 301–304.
Sellappan S., Akon C.C., 2002. Flavonoids and antioxidant capacity of Georgia – grown Vidalia onions. J. Agric. Food Chem. 50, 5338–5342.
Shah M., Kannamkumarath S.S., Wuilloud J.C.A., Wuilloud R.G., Caruso J.A., 2004. Identification and characterization of selenium species in enriched green onion (Allium fistulosum) by HPLC-ICP-MS and ESI-ITMS. J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 19, 381–386.
Tan J., Zhu W., Wang W., Li R., Hou S., Wang D., Yang L., 2002. Selenium in soil and endemic diseases in China. Sci. Total Environ. 284, 227–235.
Tapiero H., Townsend D.M., Tew K.D., 2003. The antioxidant role of selenium and selenocompounds. Biomed. Pharmacother 57, 134–144.
Terry N., Zayed A.M., De Souza M.P., Tarun A.S., 2000. Selenium in higher plants. Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 51, 401–432.
Thiry C., Ruttens A., De Temmerman L., Schneider Y-J., Pussemier L., 2012. Current knowledge in species-related bioavailability of selenium in food. Food Chem. 130, 767–784.
Turakainen M., Hartikainen H., Seppänen M., 2005. Selenium in plant nutrition. In: Proceedings: Twenty Years of Selenium Fertilization. Agrifood Research Reports 69, Eurola M. (ed.), Helsinki, Finland. http://www.mtt.fi/met/pdf/met69.pdf, 54–59.
US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2011. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 24. Nutrient Data Laboratory Home Hage, http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/ndl. (accessed August 24, 2012.)
Van Erp P.J., Houba V.J.G., Reijneveld J.A., Van Beusichem M.L., 2001. Relationship between magnesium extracted by 0.01 M calcium chloride extraction procedure and conventional procedures. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 32, 1–18.
Van Ranst E., Verloo M., Demeyer A., Pauwels J.M., 1999. Sulfur. In: Manual for the soil chemistry and fertility laboratory. analytical methods for soil and plants, equipment, and management of consumables. Univ. of Gent, Belgium, 129–132.
Viitak A., Volynsky A.B., 2006. Simple procedure for the determination of Cd, Pb, As and Se in biological samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry using colloidal Pd modifier. Talanta. 70, 890–895.
Wang Y-D., Wang X., Wong Y-S., 2012. Proteomics analysis reveals multiple regulatory mechanisms in response to selenium in rice. J. Proteomics. 75, 1849–1866.
White P.J., Bowen H.C., Parmaguru P., Fritz M., Spracklen W.P., Spiby R.E., Meacham M.C., Mead A., Harriman M., Trueman L.J., Smith B.M., Thomas B., Broadley M.R., 2004. Interactions between selenium and sulphur nutrition in Arabidopsis thaliana. J. Exp. Bot. 55, 1927–1937.
White P.J., Broadley M.R., 2009. Biofortification of crops with seven mineral elements often lacking in human diets – iron, zinc, copper, calcium, magnesium, selenium and iodine. New Phytol. 182, 49–84.
White P.J., Broadley M.R., Bowen H.C., Johnson S.E., 2007. Selenium and its relationship with sulfur. In: Hawkesford M.J, de Kok L.J, eds. Sulfur in plants – an ecological perspective. London, UK, Springer, 225–252.
Wróbel K., Wróbel K., Kannamkumarath S.S., Caruso J.A., Wysocka I.A., Bulska E., Swiatek J., Wierzbicka M., 2004. HPLC-ICP-MS speciation of selenium in enriched onion leaves – a potential dietary source of Se-methylselenocysteine. Food Chem. 86, 617–623.
Download

Published
2013-12-31



Priit Põldma 
Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia
Ulvi Moor 
Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia
Tõnu Tõnutare 
Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia
Koit Herodes 
University of Tartu, Estonia
Riin Rebane 
University of Tartu, Estonia



License

 

Articles are made available under the conditions CC BY 4.0 (until 2020 under the conditions CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Submission of the paper implies that it has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

The author signs a statement of the originality of the work, the contribution of individuals, and source of funding.

 


Most read articles by the same author(s)