Hort. Sci. (Prague), X:X | DOI: 10.17221/79/2024-HORTSCI

Exogenous selenium treatment promoted garlic (Allium sativum L.) growth and improved product qualityShort Communication

Chuandong Qi¹, Jie Zhou¹, Dan Peng^1,2, Qingqing Zhao^1,2, Fanghua Wu³, Jinping Wu¹, Fengling Guo¹

¹ Industrial Crops Institute of Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Vegetable Ecological Cultivation on Highland, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Hubei Key Laboratory of Vegetable Germplasm Enhancement and Genetic Improvement, Wuhan, P.R. China

² Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China

³ Agricultural Service Center of Lianghe Town, Dangyang City, Yichang, P.R. China

Selenium is an essential trace element in the human body, mainly obtained from the daily diet. Producing selenium-rich agricultural products through selenium-rich cultivation is an important cultivation method.

Selenium-rich agricultural products can effectively supplement the selenium element needed by the human body in daily life. In this study, we conducted research on selenium-rich cultivation techniques for garlic, and different concentrations of sodium selenite solutions were used for garlic field treatment. We tested the related agronomic traits, nutritional indicators, and selenium content of garlic sprouts and garlic bulbs. The yield of garlic sprouts (37.08 t/ha) and garlic bulbs (25.31 t/ha) and total selenium content of garlic sprouts (61.00 μg/kg) and garlic bulbs (2 930.00 μg/kg) of T3 treatment (120 mg/L Na2SeO3) were significantly increased, compared with the yield of garlic sprouts (30.66 t/ha) and garlic bulbs (20.90 t/ha) and total selenium content of garlic sprouts (6.33 μg/kg) and garlic bulbs (75.00 μg/kg) of the control (CK). Furthermore, selenium treatment improved the activity of antioxidant enzymes and reduced the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in garlic sprouts during winter, and promoted the absorption of soil nutrients by garlic. Taken together, our research indicates that garlic, especially garlic bulbs, has strong selenium-rich ability, and selenium-rich cultivation techniques could significantly improve the yield and quality of garlic products.

Keywords: garlic; ROS accumulation; selenium-rich cultivation; sodium selenite treatment

Received: April 29, 2024; Revised: May 28, 2025; Accepted: June 3, 2025; Prepublished online: January 26, 2026