Foliar Fertilization of Nano-selenium and its Ef fects on Bioactive Compounds and Enzymatic Activity in Lettuce

Selenium (Se) an oligoelement for mammals is not considered essential in plant fertilization programs. Its deficiency af fects almost one million persons, making it a world health problem and nano-biofortification of cultivation is a strategy to attenuate it. Thus, this study determines the foliar selenium nanoparticles (Se-NPs) application ef fects on yield, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, and their accumulation in lettuce. Therefore, six applications of dif ferent Se-NPs concentrations: 0, 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mg L-1 were considered. The results showed that the high doses decrease yield, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants but increase Se concentration in lettuce leaves. The recommended dosage here is of 1 mg L-1 for biomass production and 10 mg L-1 for bioactive compounds and enzymatic activity. The recommended daily consumption of lettuce biofortified with 1 mg of Se-NPs (100 g) provides the recommended daily consumption in adults. Thus, the Se-NPs application is an alternative to increase Se concentration and bioactive compounds in lettuce to influence positively, human nutrition af ter its consumption.