Effect of 2850 MHz electromagnetic field radiation on the early growth, antioxidant activity, and secondary metabolite profile of red and green cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.)

The proliferation of wireless and other telecommunications equipment brought about by technological advances in the communication industry has substantially increased the radiofrequency radiation levels in the environment. The emphasis is, therefore, placed on investigating the potential impacts of radiofrequency radiation on biota. In this work, the impact of 2850 MHz electromagnetic field radiation (EMF-r) on early development, photosynthetic pigments, and the metabolic profile of two Brassica oleracea L. cultivars (red and green cabbage) was studied. On a daily basis for seven days, seedlings were exposed to homogeneous EMF-r for one, two, and four hours, and observations were carried out at 0-h, 1-h, and 24-h following the final dose. Irrespective of the duration of harvest, exposure to EMF-r resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in both root (from 6.3 cm to 4.0 cm in red; 6.1 cm to 3.8 cm in green) and shoot lengths (from 5.3 cm to ⁓3.1 cm in red; 5.1 cm to 3.1 cm in green), as well as a decrease in biomass (from 2.9 mg to ⁓1.1 mg in red; 2.5 to 0.9 mg in green) of the seedlings when compared to control samples. Likewise, the chlorophyll (from 6.09 to ⁓4.94 mg g−1 d.wt in red; 7.37 to 6.05 mg g−1 d.wt. in green) and carotenoid (from 1.49 to 1.19 mg g−1 d.wt. in red; 1.14 to 0.51 mg g−1 d.wt. in green) contents of both cultivars decreased significantly when compared to the control. Additionally, the contents of phenolic (28.99‒45.52 mg GAE g−1 in red; 25.49‒33.76 mg GAE g−1 in green), flavonoid (21.7‒31.8 mg QE g−1 in red; 12.1‒19.0 mg QE g−1 in green), and anthocyanin (28.8‒43.6 mg per 100 g d.wt. in red; 1.1‒2.6 mg per 100 g d.wt. in green) in both red and green cabbage increased with exposure duration. EMF-r produced oxidative stress in the exposed samples of both cabbage cultivars, as demonstrated by dose-dependent increases in the total antioxidant activity (1.33‒2.58 mM AAE in red; 1.29‒2.22 mM AAE in green), DPPH activity (12.96‒78.33% in red; 9.62‒67.73% in green), H2O2 content (20.0‒77.15 nM g−1 f.wt. in red; 14.28‒64.29 nM g−1 f.wt. in green), and MDA content (0.20‒0.61 nM g−1 f.wt. in red; 0.18‒0.51 nM g−1 f.wt. in green) compared to their control counterparts. The activity of antioxidant enzymes, i.e., superoxide dismutases (3.83‒8.10 EU mg−1 protein in red; 4.19‒7.35 EU mg−1 protein in green), catalases (1.81‒7.44 EU mg−1 protein in red; 1.04‒6.24 EU mg−1 protein in green), and guaiacol peroxidases (14.37‒47.85 EU mg−1 protein in red; 12.30‒42.79 EU mg−1 protein in green), increased significantly compared to their control counterparts. The number of polyphenols in unexposed and EMF-r exposed samples of red cabbage was significantly different. The study concludes that exposure to 2850 MHz EMF-r affects the early development of cabbage seedlings, modifies their photosynthetic pigments, alters polyphenol content, and impairs their oxidative metabolism.