Abstract BACKGROUND Grape is regarded as a functional food because it contains glucose, fructose, and high content of phenolic compounds. The effect of foliar application of selenium (Se) is limited by the leaf absorption barrier and photooxidation loss of grapes. In contrast, soil application may provide a stable Se pool for root absorption, but its effect on Se morphology and nutritional value of grapes is not clear. RESULTS In this study, grapes were used as the research object. Through field experiments, different concentrations of Se fertilizer spraying treatments were set up to study the effect of soil Se on improving grape quality and organic Se forms, as well as the effect of Se on nutrient elements and heavy metals. The results showed that total Se (165.6–480.3 μg kg −1 ) was accumulated in a dose‐dependent manner, while selenoformic acid (Se‐Met, 4.14%), selenocysteine (SeCys 2 , 1.13%) and methyl selenocysteine (Se‐MeSeCys, 0.97%) constituted the key organic forms. CONCLUSION Soil Se application can effectively improve the Se enrichment ability of grapes. Moreover, the biofortification of Se in soil has a dual role, significantly increasing nutrient elements (Ca, Zn, Mo) and effectively reducing the accumulation of heavy metals (As, Pb). © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.
Su et al. (2026) studied this question.