Effects of Copper, Zinc, Lead and Cadmium Applied with Irrigation Water on Some Eggplant Plant Growth Parameters and Soil Properties

Sustainability of agriculture is only ensured by proper soil and water preservation practices. The idea of re-use of wastewater in agriculture is the critical issue regarding with the use and preservation of water resources in today’s water scarce conditions. However, heavy metals and trace elements in waste water are important contaminants for plants and soils. Heavy metals create a significant threat on health of environment, plants and eventually on the health of humans and animals. In this study, eggplant seedlings were irrigated with increasing doses of Copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd)-containing irrigation waters to investigate the effects of heavy metal concentrations on plant morphological characteristics (stem length, root length, leaf fresh and dry weight, root fresh and dry weight, leaf area) and soil properties (pH, electrical conductivity, cathion exchange capacity, organic matter). While significant changes were not observed in soil properties, effects of heavy metal treatments on plant morphological characteristics were found to be significant (p< 0.05).

[1]  L. Peres,et al.  Acquired tolerance of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Micro‐Tom) plants to cadmium‐induced stress , 2008 .

[2]  P. Nagajyothi,et al.  Phytotoxicity of cadmium on protein, proline and antioxidant enzyme activities in growing Arachis hypogaea L. seedlings. , 2008, Journal of environmental sciences.

[3]  D. Tanyolaç,et al.  Changes in photochemical and antioxidant enzyme activities in maize (Zea mays L.) leaves exposed to excess copper. , 2007, Chemosphere.

[4]  S. Clemens.  Toxic metal accumulation, responses to exposure and mechanisms of tolerance in plants. , 2006, Biochimie.

[5]  Brian J. Wienhold,et al.  Soils, Land, and Food: Managing the Land During the Twenty-First Century , 2003 .

[6]  L. M. Sandalio,et al.  Cadmium-induced changes in the growth and oxidative metabolism of pea plants. , 2001, Journal of experimental botany.

[7]  J. Vangronsveld,et al.  Cadmium toxicity effects on growth, mineral and chlorophyll contents, and activities of stress related enzymes in young maize plants (Zea mays L.) , 1998, Plant and Soil.

[8]  B. J. Alloway,et al.  Heavy metals in soils , 1990 .

[9]  J. Cromer,et al.  Copper association with aquatic fulvic and humic acids. Estimation of conditional formation constants with a titrimetric anodic stripping voltammetry procedure , 1979 .

[10]  W. T. McGeorge,et al.  Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkaline Soils , 1954 .

[11]  R. Shyamala,et al.  Scholars Research Library , 2015 .

[12]  M. Sharma,et al.  Correlation of heavy metal contamination with soil properties of industrial areas of Mysore, Karnataka, India by cluster analysis , 2013 .

[13]  H. P. Sarma,et al.  Heavy metal contamination in soil in an industrial zone and its relation with some soil properties , 2012 .

[14]  K. Appenroth.  Definition of “Heavy Metals” and Their Role in Biological Systems , 2010 .

[15]  P. Ahmad,et al.  Heavy metal toxicity: effect on plant growth, biochemical parameters and metal accumulation by Brassica juncea L. , 2009 .

[16]  V. Morsch,et al.  Effects of metal elements on acid phosphatase activity in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings , 2007 .

[17]  P. Kopittke,et al.  Effect of Cu Toxicity on Growth of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) , 2005, Plant and Soil.

[18]  C. Poschenrieder,et al.  Water Relations in Heavy Metal Stressed Plants , 2004 .

[19]  C. Poschenrieder,et al.  Structural and Ultrastructural Changes in Heavy Metal Exposed Plants , 2004 .

[20]  M. Prasad,et al.  Physiology and Biochemistry of Metal Toxicity and Tolerance in Plants , 2002, Springer Netherlands.

[21]  F. Fodor.  Physiological Responses of Vascular Plants to Heavy Metals , 2002 .

[22]  M. Wilson,et al.  Forms of cadmium, lead, and zinc in contaminated soils from Southwest Poland , 1996 .

[23]  B. Alloway.  Soil processes and the behaviour of metals. , 1990 .

[24]  R. Ayers,et al.  Water quality for agriculture , 1976 .

[25]  L. A. Richards.  Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkali Soils , 1954 .