Selenium accumulation and speciation in biofortified chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under Mediterranean conditions

BACKGROUND Millions of people have Se-deficient diets and Se-biofortified crops could prevent such deficiency. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential of chickpea for use in Se fertilization programs in order to increase available Se. Two foliar Se fertilizers (sodium selenate and sodium selenite) at four rates (0, 10, 20, 40 g ha(-1)) were tested in the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 growing seasons in a field experiment conducted under semiarid Mediterranean conditions. RESULTS Sodium selenate was much more effectively taken by plants than sodium selenite, and there was a strong and linear relationship between total Se content and Se rate for both. For each gram of Se fertilizer, applied either as sodium selenate or sodium selenite, the increases of total Se concentration in grain were 126 and 87, and 25 and 19 mu g Se kg(-1) dry weight, in 2010/2011 and 2011/2012, respectively. Se was found to be incorporated into chickpea grains mainly (>70%) as selenomethionine. CONCLUSION Se-enriched chickpeas would be a good candidate for inclusion in biofortification programs under semiarid Mediterranean conditions and for promotion as a 'functional food'. (c) 2013 Society of Chemical Industry