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BACKGROUND Pea sprouts are considered a healthy food. Sucrose is a key nutritional factor affecting taste and flavor. Meanwhile, selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient that plays multiple roles in wide variety of physiological processes and improves crop quality and nutritional value. Nonetheless, the effects of the combination of sucrose and Se treatment on growth, quality, and sugar metabolism of pea sprouts have not been explored. RESULTS The results revealed that sucrose at 10 mg L−1 obviously increased fresh weight, vitamin C, soluble protein, soluble sugar, fructose, glucose, and sucrose contents. Se treatments also improved nutritional quality, but higher Se (2.5 mg L−1) significantly inhibited the growth of seedlings. Interestingly, the combined application of sucrose (10 mg L−1) and Se (1.25 mg L−1) could effectively promote vitamin C, sucrose, and fructose contents, especially the Se content, compared with Se application alone. Additionally, there were significant differences in the regulation of sugar metabolism between Se alone and combined application of sucrose and Se. Acid invertase and neutral invertase play a pivotal role in the accumulation of soluble sugar under Se treatments alone, and acid invertase might be the key enzyme to limit sugar accumulation under combined application of sucrose and Se. CONCLUSION The moderate combined application of sucrose (10 mg L−1) and Se (1.25 mg L−1) more effectively regulated sugar metabolism and improved nutritional quality than Se application alone did. © 2021 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

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In most parts of the world, pan evaporation decreases with increased air temperature rather than increases, which is known as the “evaporation paradox.” The semiarid Loess Plateau, which is sensitive to global climate change and ecological variations, has a unique warming and drying climate. The authors of this study consider whether pan evaporation shows the same decreasing trend in this unique environment. Meteorological observations of the typical semiarid Dingxi in the Loess Plateau from 1960 to 2010 were used to analyze the variation in pan evaporation and its responses to climatic factors. It was found that the pan evaporation has increased considerably over the past 50 yr, which does not support the evaporation paradox proposed in previous studies. A multifactor model developed to simulate the independent impacts of climate factors on pan evaporation indicated that the temperature, humidity, wind speed, and low cloud cover variations contributed to pan evaporation by 46.18%, 25.90%, 2.48%, and 25.44%, respectively. The increased temperature, decreased relative humidity, and decreased low cloud cover all caused an increase in pan evaporation, unlike many parts of the world where increased low cloud cover offsets the effects of increased temperature and decreased relative humidity on pan evaporation. This may explain why the evaporation paradox occurs. If all relevant factors affecting pan evaporation are considered, it is possible the paradox will not occur. Thus in warm and drying regions, the increased pan evaporation will lead to increasingly arid conditions, which may exacerbate drought and flood disaster occurrences worldwide.

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