Different doses of cadmium in soil negatively impact growth, plant mineral homeostasis, and antioxidant defense of mung bean plants

Heavy metal (HM) pollution of soil has become a gigantic issue across the globe. Metals enter the food chain and cause problems in plants, animals, and humans. We performed this work to evaluate the impacts of different cadmium (Cd) levels on growth, physiology, mineral nutrition, and yield attributes of Vigna radiata. Changes in growth fund are statistically significant and directly linked with an increase in Cd doses. Various concentrations of cadmium exhibited significant (p = 0.05) vicissitudes in biochemical parameters such as in the contents of chlorophyll, amino acids, soluble proteins, and total soluble sugars in experimental plants. The shoot and root calcium contents were highly reduced by higher concentrations of Cd in the following trend Cd-40 > Cd-30 > Cd-20 > Cd-10 than the control. Likewise, shoot and root potassium (K+) contents were less influenced by Cd-10 as compared to other levels of Cd. The elevation in these enzymatic contents was maximum under the higher concentration of Cd (Cd-40), and with the decreasing Cd level, a decline in concentrations of these estimated antioxidants was recorded (Cd-30> Cd-20> Cd-10 > Cd-0). A significant (p = 0.05) reduction in seed yield per plant and thousand seed weight was estimated with the increase in the concentration of Cd as compared to the control. The seed yield and their weights were less influenced in Cd-10 treated plants followed by Cd-20 and then Cd-30. On the basis of the reported findings, our recommendation is to conduct research with an explicit focus on the mechanistic elucidation of damages caused by Cd. Additionally, target enzymes or metabolites in plants should be explored for use in the development of HM-tolerant crop varieties.