Exploring the Accumulation of Se and S In Tropical Plants

Selenium (Se) is considered as one of the essential elements for normal growth and developments of plants and animals. It has the potential for preventing cancer related diseases in human beings and animals. The intake of Se has to be in organic form but then most plants can only uptake in inorganic form, and the bioavailability of Se to plants is determined by several environmental and genetic factor of a particular plant species. A study was conducted to investigate the accumulation of Se in tropical plant species. Leaf and flower tissue samples from more than 100 taxa and 47 plant families were collected from herb garden in Serdang (3°16'67" N and 101°70'00" E), Malaysia. The plant tissue samples were analyzed for Se and S concentration using ICAP. There was a significant difference in Se and S concentration within families, genera and species. Lowest tissue Se concentration was found in Euphorbiaceae, Tiliaceae and Cannaceae with <1ug per g of dry matter; and the highest was in Gramineae, Plumbuginaceae, and Acanthaceae with >350 ug per g of dry matter. Among the genus, inophyllum, auriculata, vulgaris, and javanica were the hyperaccumulators of Se with more than 330 ug per g of dry matter. However, there was a variation in tissue Se concentration among the various taxa of each genus and family. The tissue S concentration ranged from 3.0 to 0.03% of dry matter with highest S concentration in Melastomataceae. There was no correlation between the Se and S concentration among the tropical species sampled. The images and tissue Se, S concentration of these tropical species are presented.