Zea mays L. Grain: Increase in Nutraceutical and Antioxidant Properties Due to Se Fortification in Low and High Water Regimes

Abstract

This work aimed to investigate the effect of selenium (Se) and irrigation on the grain yield, on the forms of Se, phenols, and carotenes, and on some antioxidant activities of maize (Zea mays L.) grains. To reach this goal, a 2 year experiment was undertaken. Maize was fertigated with sodium selenite at the rate of 200 g of Se ha–1 and grown under two water regimes. While the irrigation did not show a clear effect on the selected parameters, Se fertigation increased the contents of inorganic and organic Se forms, xanthophyll, and salicylic acid. Furthermore, while Se fertigation decreased the hydroxycinnamic acid content, generally higher antioxidant activities were found in Se-treated grains than in the control. These findings suggest that Se fertigation increases most of the nutraceutical values of maize grains, which therefore might improve human and livestock health and could increase the maize grain shelf life and its byproducts.

Selenite Uptake and Transformation in Rice Seedlings (Oryza sativa L.): Response to Phosphorus Nutrient Status

“…Moreover, the cell vacuole serves as a major organelle that can fix and accumulate ions by incorporating them with its internal organic acids and sulfuric peptides, and the vacuole is central to inhibiting the entrance of ions into the xylem and the translocation to shoots (Fu et al, 2011;Nocito et al, 2011). Selenium can act as an antioxidant that directly stimulates the antioxidative capacity of organisms (D' Amato et al, 2019) or by improving the activities of antioxidant enzymes like superoxide dismutase (SOD) (Hasanuzzaman et al, 2010). However, the antioxidant enzymes were observed as being inhibited by a high Se concentration (Assunção et al, 2015); thus, Se can be considered as both a nutrient and toxin to mammals and plants (Kaur et al, 2014).…”

Selenium biofortification in the 21st century: status and challenges for healthy human nutrition

“…With respect to arable crops, the enrichment with Se mostly leads to higher antioxidant activity of their grains and greater content of nutrients, amino acids, phenols, anthocyanins, sugars, and organo-Se compounds (D'Amato et al 2017(D'Amato et al 2019(D'Amato et al 2020Skrypnik et al 2019). Also, in upland rice polished grains, Se application induced higher concentration of storage proteins like albumin, globulin, prolamin, and glutelin (Reis et al 2020).…”

Selenium and Nano-Selenium Biofortification for Human Health: Opportunities and Challenges

“…For maize crops, biofortification with Se could be achieved under field conditions through a fertigation system at an application rate of 100-200 g of Se ha −1 as sodium selenite. The applied Se might enhance the nutraceutical value and antioxidant content of maize grains without any leaching of Se into groundwater [142,143]. Ngigi et al [125] reported that the Se biofortification level (0.3 mg kg −1 ) could be achieved in three field locations in Kenya using a foliar Se-dose of 20 g ha −1 as sodium selenate, whereas Wang et al [64] indicated that the Se-level may be up to 30 g Se ha −1 in China.…”