Abstract:
Due to agricultural mismanagement, cadmium (Cd) enrichment in cultivated soils raises concern over crop growth, productivity, and edible safety. In this present field study, the influence of salicylic acid (SA) on some growth, biochemical, and ion attributes of locally cultivated radish (Raphanus sativus L.) variety Mino towards Cd exposure is reported. The Cdstress (0, 0.5, and 1 mM CdCl2) was applied to 20-d old plants. The foliar application of salicylic acid (0 and 300 mg L-1) was performed after 10-days of Cd exposure, and data for various growth and biochemical traits were recorded after 15-days of spray treatments. The inhibition of radish root growth was recorded even at 0.5 mM CdCl2, and severe inhibition was evident at 1 mM CdCl2 stress. In contrast, an increase in the shoot growth characters was noticed in response to Cd and SA treatments. Furthermore, Cd-stress reduced the chlorophyll contents, and these were further reduced by SA spray. Moreover, the SA-treated plants exhibited higher Cd contents in the shoot leading to chlorosis. The shoot Cd contents ranged between 6-57 µg/g DW while, the Cd concentrations in root were below 6 µg/g DW. Based on the results, we conclude that radish concentrated a majority of Cd-fraction in shoot compared to the root with minimal values.
Keywords:
Vegetables
,
Cadmium
,
Metal toxicity
,
salicylic acid
,
Photosynthetic pigments