Foliar application and uptake of selenium extracted from ryegrass

Abstract

In a pot experiment a water extract from ryegrass (Lolium perenne) containing 21 mg/L selenium (Se) was sprayed on ryegrass, and the uptake of Se was compared with the uptake of Se applied as sodium selenite. The amount of Se recovered from the plants (0 to 53 mg/kg) was a linear function of the amount of Se applied (0 to 130 g/ha), both for the Se in the extract and for the sodium selenite. A total of 2.8 times more Se was recovered from the plants sprayed with the extract than from the plants sprayed with sodium selenite. When the plants were washed with Triton X‐100 the difference was still higher: from the ryegrass sprayed with the extract 5.3 times more Se was recovered from the grass sprayed with the extract than from the grass sprayed with sodium selenite.