Volume 59, Issue 330, June 2023

Effects of chromium on sun flower and pearl millet in sand culture experiments

Madiha Rehman, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Shafiq^♦

Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Botany, University of Karachi, Karachi, 75270, Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Chromium metal is an alarmingly global issue due to industrial, automobile and anthropogenic activities. Chromium metal at higher level produce toxic effects on living organism, crop productivity and agricultural land. The data showed in pot experiment that seedling height as well as root, shoot length and number of leaves of two different food crops, Helianthus annuus and Penniseum glaucum decreased by increasing chromium (0, 25, 50, 100 and 150 ppm) level using sand culture treatment. The response of H. annuus and P. glaucum to chromium toxicity in terms of seedling size and yield production was found different. H. annuus showed more growth reduction by chromium treatment than P. glaucum. The root length of H. annuus was significantly decreased at chromium 100 ppm. The chromium treatments at all level produce no significant effect on leaf area and shoot growth of H. annuus. The seedling fresh weight of H. annuus was significantly reduced by 25 ppm chromium treatment. The leaves growth of P. glaucum was affected by different concentration of chromium. The chromium treatment at 25 ppm markedly suppressed the leaves numbers in P. glaucum whereas; no significant reduction in shoot length of P. glaucum was recorded. This study showed that 100 ppm chromium treatment significantly (p<0.05) decline seedling and root fresh weight of P. glaucum. This study suggests that P. glaucum showed more toxicity to chromium than H. annuus.

Keywords: Biomass, metal, pollution, seedling size, toxicity

Discovery, 2023, 59, e62d1243

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Published: June 2023