Selenium raised pharmaceutical value of garden sage

Scientists from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University showed that spraying of selenium stimulates the growth of garden sage – a plant, that is used in medicine for treatment of inflammations and diseases of gastrointestinal tract. In this case plants treated by selenium showed the improvement of antioxidative properties, raise of the speed of photosynthesis by 67%, and also increase of sugar content, amino acids and proteins. Thus, the obtained information enables to raise crop yield and pharmaceutical value of garden sage. Results of the research supported by the grant of Russian Scientific (RNF), are published in the journal Scientia Horticulturae.

In connection with high demand for farm crops and permanent changes of environment scientists search methods of raising productivity and nutritive value of plants. In particular, to achieve this aim it is suggested to use biostimulators – substances, that change biochemical and physiological processes in cells. As an example of non-organic biostimulator you can take selenium – element, that according to researches improves plant nutrition, raises quality of yield and sustainability of plants to soil salination and influence of toxic heavy metals. Thus, non-organic forms of selenium are already widely used in agriculture, however it is a lack of information about how its organic forms, including selenium amino acid, influence plants. Such compounds potentially are taken up by plants and influence their metabolism differently.

Scientists from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad), Federal Scientific Centre for Vegetable Growing (Moscow), Iași University of Life Sciences (Romania) and University of Naples Federico II (Italy) researched how organic and nonorganic forms of selenium influenced physiology of garden sage (Salvia officinalis L.) – plant that is widely used in cookery and medicine in production of anti-inflammatory drugs.

During six weeks authors sprayed selenium-containing water solutions on plants. Two of them had diluted nonorganic forms of selenium (selenate and selenite) in them, the other two – organic (amino acids selenium -methionine and selenium- cystine). After a month and a half after treatment with selenium authors estimated height and number of leaves, that seedlings had, and also conducted biochemical analyses.

Researchers showed that organic forms of selenium increased mass of plant by 65% compared with control group (untreated plants), and the number of leaves – by 25%. Non-organic forms raised these parameters by 20,5 and 9% correspondingly. In this case while using both non-organic and organic forms of selenium the content of this element in plant surpassed the control point minimum in 30 times. Thus, garden sage, treated by selenium-containing substances potentially can be used as biological supplement for filling deficit of selenium in people’s organisms.

Authors suggested that selenium influences the growth of garden sage due to the fact that it raises intensity of photosynthesis in leaves. It really turned out that content of pigment necessary for photosynthesis, that plants had after treatment by organic selenium, raised by 45%, and nonorganic – by 30%. Besides this, after spraying selenium the speed of photosynthesis increased by 67%, and the speed with which leaves evaporated water - by 49%.

Also, after spraying selenium-containing compounds the amount of glucose, saccharose and the total amount of sugars in garden sage raised by 20-40%. While organic forms of selenium also increased the content of amino acids and proteins in plant’s leaves, treatment with non-organic forms didn’t give such effect.

Besides this, scientists showed that treatment with selenium raised antioxidant activity of garden sage’s leaves. Plant became more sustainable to active forms of oxygen – molecules destroying membranes, DNA and RNA cells.

“Our research shows that addition of selenium can improve medical and nutritive properties of garden sage. Whereas organic and non-organic forms of selenium differently influenced the growth and physiology of plants. Obtained results will enable to choose optimal form of selenium, that raises yield and characteristics of garden sage”, – tells the head of the project, supported by the grant of RSF, Liubov Skrypnik, Ph.D., Biology, scientific associate of Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University.