Selenium content increasing in the seeds of garden pea after foliar biofortification

Selenium plays an important role as an antioxidant in the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Content of selenium in the crops is constantly in the spotlight of professional public. Vegetables, as an important source of chemo protective substances, have irreplaceable position within the food of plant character. The aim of research work was to solve the Se content increasing in the seeds of garden pea (varieties Premium and Ambassador) through the foliar biofortification of the plants (50 g Se / ha and 100 g Se / ha) and to monitor its effect on production of photosynthetic pigments. In the seeds of fresh garden pea, the chlorophyll <em>a</em> and chlorophyll <em>b</em> content was determined by spectrophotometer depending on a variety and the doses of selenium. In lyophilized seeds there was measured content of selenium by ET-AAS methods. The statistically significant increase of selenium was confirmed with its increasing concentrations in case of both varieties. In the var. Ambassador there was increasing from 0.083 &plusmn;0.009 mg.kg^-1 DM to 4.935 &plusmn;0.598 mg.kg^-1 DM (60-fold) and in a var. Premium the values increase from 0.067&plusmn;0.007 mg.kg^-1 DM to 3.248 &plusmn;0.289 mg.kg^-1 DM (48-fold) after application of 100 g Se / ha. After application of 50 g Se / ha in both varieties of peas there was reported 25-fold increasing in the selenium content in comparison with control. The content of photosynthetic pigments was also increased, or possibly left at level of un-fortificated variant (chl<em>a</em> - Ambassador - 50 g Se / ha; chl<em>b</em> - Premium - 100 g Se / ha) by foliar biofortification. Chlorophyll <em>a</em> content was high significantly increased according to used statistical methods in varieties Premium, from the content of 24.527 &plusmn;5.156 mg.kg^-1 FM to 66.953 &plusmn;6.454 mg.kg^-1 FM, likewise the content of chlorophyll <em>b</em> from the value of 19.708 &plusmn;5.977 mg.kg^-1 FM to 37.488 &plusmn;6.146 mg.kg^-1 FM (after 50 g / ha application).&nbsp; Foliar biofortification of different vegetable species can provide large-scale intake of minerals with antioxidant properties for human as well as an increase of certain biologically active substances as a result of their synergies <!--[endif] -->