Combining Selenium Biofortification with Vermicompost Growing Media in Lamb’s Lettuce (Valerianella locusta L. Laterr)

Leafy vegetables are a daily part of the human diet all over the world. At the same time, a worldwide problem of Se malnutrition is present in human populations, mostly due to low soil Se contents. As plants represent the main source of this element in the human diet, with Se being an essential trac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agriculture (Basel) 2021-11, Vol.11 (11), p.1072
Main Authors: Galić, Lucija, Špoljarević, Marija, Auriga, Alicja, Ravnjak, Boris, Vinković, Tomislav, Lončarić, Zdenko
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal feed
biofortification
Composting
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Diet
Disease
Experiments
Feeds
Fertilizers
Food plants
Fruits
human health
Human nutrition
Human populations
lamb’s lettuce
Lettuce
Malnutrition
Nutrition
Organic wastes
Peat
Reserves
Seeds
Selenium
Sodium selenate
Substrates
Trace elements
Trace elements (nutrients)
vermicompost
Vermicomposting
Worms
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Summary:Leafy vegetables are a daily part of the human diet all over the world. At the same time, a worldwide problem of Se malnutrition is present in human populations, mostly due to low soil Se contents. As plants represent the main source of this element in the human diet, with Se being an essential trace element for humans and animals, plant foods containing Se can be used as an efficient means of increasing the Se in the human diet, as well as in animal feed (biofortification). At the same time, the production of growing media relies on limited peat reserves. The use of earthworms facilitates the production of composted organic masses mostly consisting of organic waste, called vermicompost. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of three different growing media (commercial peat media, vermicompost, and a 1:1 mixture) on Se biofortification’s efficacy and yield in lamb’s lettuce. The Se biofortification was performed with sodium selenate (Na2SeO4). It was shown that biofortification increased the Se contents such that a mass of only 48.9 g of fresh leaves contained enough Se for the recommended daily intake in human nutrition (55 µg Se/day), which represents a significant potential for solving Se malnutrition. Furthermore, the use of a 1:1 vermicompost–commercial substrate mixture showed a similar performance to the peat growing medium, contributing to the preservation of peat reserves.
ISSN:2077-0472
2077-0472
DOI:10.3390/agriculture11111072