Growth, Physiological and Biochemical Responses of Mung Bean ( Vigna radiata L.) to Cadmium Polluted Soil

Cadmium (Cd) toxicity is an alarming issue for our agricultural soils and serious threat to crop productivity. The concentration of Cd in our soils is continuously increasing which is posing serious threat to plants, animals and humans. Mung bean is a conventional pulse crop cultivated all over the world. Thus, this study's goal was to evaluate response of mung bean seedlings in terms of growth, physiology, and biochemistry to varying degrees of Cd stress. The investigation examined various Cd levels, including control, 5, 10 and 15 mg Cd/kg of soil. The results indicate that mungbean growth, physiological and biochemical components was negatively impacted by Cd stress. Results depicted that Cd (15 mg/kg) reduced the growth attributes photosynthetic pigments (Chl. a, b and carotenoids), total soluble proteins (TSP) and free amino acids (FAA) and increased the malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), and electrolyte leakage (EL). Interestingly, activities of all four antioxidants (ascorbic acid, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and peroxidase) increased with increase in Cd toxicity.