Accumulation of Heavy Metals by Chickpea Grown in Fly Ash Treated Soil: Effect on Antioxidants

• Published in: Clean : soil, air, water air, water, 2010-12, Vol.38 (12), p.1116-1123
• Main Authors: Pandey, Vimal Chandra, Singh, Jay Shankar, Kumar, Akhilesh, Tewari, D. D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antioxidants; Chickpea; Cicer arietinum; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Fly ash stress; Hydrology; Hydrology. Hydrogeology; Metal accumulation
• ISSN: 1863-0650; 1863-0669; 1863-0669
• DOI: 10.1002/clen.201000178

Chickpea grown in fly ash (FA) treated soil (25, 50, and 100% FA) was used to evaluate the effect of FA on antioxidants, metal concentration (Fe, Zn, Cu, Cr, and Cd), photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a (chl‐a), chlorophyll b (chl‐b), total chlorophyll (total chl), and carotenoids), growth and yield performance. All antioxidants in roots, shoots and leaves of chickpea increase with increasing FA doses to combat FA stress. The activities of antioxidants were more in the root tissues to cope with stress induced in the plants as compared to shoot and leaf. Concentration of metals was found maximum in roots than the shoots and seeds. The highest concentration of Fe and lowest level of Cd were recorded in all treatments of FA for different parts of the plant. The treated crop showed reduced level of chlorophyll but enhanced level of carotenoids and protein. However, root length, number of nodules and biomass in 25 and 50% FA treatments did not differ significantly in comparison to respective control plants. These results suggest that heavy metals of FA causes oxidative stress in this crop and the antioxidant enzymes could help a pivotal role against oxidative injury. Chickpea grown in fly ash (FA) treated soil (25 and 50%) did not show any significant reduction in plant growth and yield compared to control plants. However, the plant growth and yield was significantly reduced in 100% FA. Roots showed the highest metal concentration whereas the highest concentration of Fe and lowest levels of Cd were recorded in all FA treatments for different parts of the plant.