The presented paper deals with monitoring of the ways of selenium (Se) content increase by foliar biofortification with inorganic Se in two varieties of garden pea Pisum sativum L. (Premium, Ambassador) in the conditions of south Slovakia in 2014-2015. The results of experiments show that treatment of plants with two doses of Se concentration (50 g and 100 g Se ha -1 in the form of a sodium selenate anhydrous solution) at the flowering stage significantly increased the total Se content in the seeds of both varieties. Following the results by the consumption of 25 g of dried seeds of peas or 100 g of fresh pea seeds after the biofortification with 100 g Se ha -1 a recommended daily dose of Se in humans may be covered. The significantly positive influence of Se application on the total polyphenols content (TPC) has been confirmed in the both varieties after application of dosage in 100 g Se ha -1 (52% and 33%). A significant increase in the average value of total antioxidant capacity (TAC by DPPH method) in garden pea var. Ambassador was observed after the application of both doses of Se, in case of Premium variety only after application with a 100 g Se ha -1 . Significantly increasing level of TAC by PCL (photochemiluminescence) method was found out only in case of var. Premium.

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Since scientific interest in rhubarb from a culinary point of view is a relatively new issue, the aim of this study was to test five edible cultivars of Rheum rhabarbarum L. (‘Poncho’, ‘Canadian Red’, ‘Valentine’, ‘Red Champagne’, and ‘Victoria’) from a specific culinary perspective, i.e., processing into juice. Total yields (t/ha) were established in six harvests during a two-year field experiment. For juice production and subsequent laboratory analysis, rhubarb petioles from two different harvest terms were used (i.e., harvest term A (HTA) and harvest term B (HTB)). Analyses of total sugar, glucose, fructose, total soluble solids (TSS), total acidity, malic acid, and pH level were determined by FT-IR spectrophotometer. Total yields of petioles varied between 28.77 t/ha (‘Canadian Red’) and 45.58 t/ha (‘Red Champagne’) at a density of 11,000 pl/ha. ‘Red Champagne’ significantly (p < 0.05) reached the highest juice yield potential (85%) and the highest values of glucose (9.97 g/L), total soluble solids (4.37 g/L), and total sugars (54.96 g/L).

Abstract

The study monitored the effect of differentiated mineral nutrition of microgreens species by solution of sodium selenate (2 mg Se/L) on the content of Se, chlorophylls, and other minerals. Chlorophylls were measured spectrophotometrically, Se by electrothermal atomic absorption method (ETAAS) with Zeeman-effect background and elements' concentration was performed by a dual Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) iCAP7600 instrument. The content of selenium in fresh weight moved on average from 0.013 to 12.556 μg/g. Selenisation increased the content of Se in all tested species significantly (p < 0.05) without impacting yield. The content of chlorophyll a moved from 249.9 mg/kg (Mizuna) to 604.4 mg/kg (Arugula) with significant differences between the species, without significance (p ≤ 0.05) between tested variants. The influence of selenisation on other minerals significantly differed (p < 0.05) due to the genetic variability. A significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase in Ca was observed in green basil (10.7%) and cress (20.9%); of Fe in green basil (1.6%) and cress (40.9%); of K in arugula (1.6%), green basil (3.9%) and cress (2.8%); of Zn in arugula (2.6%), green basil (8.6%), cress (2.7%) and radish (5.9%); and of Ba in green basil (5.6%) and cress (23.9%).