The purpose of this paper was to improve the content of active principles of seedlings obtained by germination of wheat, barley and oat seeds in the presence of sodium selenite with an  known antioxidant role. Selenium intake is absolutely necessary because the Romanian soil is, generally, poor in this element. The three cereals were chosen for this experiment because it is known that they are dietary sources of selenium. There were studied the effects of selenium intake at doses of 5 and 10 ppm, on the synthesis of vitamin C (another strong antioxidant). Evaluation of vitamin C content was performed by iodometric method. The novelty of this paper is to assess the level of vitamin C in seedlings of wheat, barley and oats in succession to their germination in the presence of sodium selenite while most research in this area have assessed the level of vitamin C in mature plants (or their fruits). Seedlings treated with sodium selenite, vitamin C levels have been significantly (p<0.05) higher in experimental compared to the control. Thus, consecutive to intake of sodium selenite, vitamin C level in wheat seedlings was on average higher by +1360.65%, to barley has increased by +8.14% and the average growth of oats was +11.815%. The level of vitamin C was directly correlated with the doses of selenium applied to all three plant species. Enrichment technique in vitamin C in raw foods products (sprout), by sodium selenite supplementation has proved to be cheap and beneficial especially for wheat seedlings, making them truly functional food. Moreover, the sprout associated with increased levels of vitamin C, offers to the consumer a better antioxidant protection, increasing its nutritional value. Natural vitamin C is also easier to assimilate by animal organisms than vitamin C obtained by synthesis or fermentation. The high content of vitamin C in seedlings increases their preservation period.

Vitamin C, wheat, barley, oat, seedlings, selenium

Presentation: oral