PHYSIOLOGICAL ANSWERS to METAL TRIGGERED EFFECTS in CROPS

OpenAlex İngilizce

Environmental pollution is one of the most important concerns for today's people. The increasing population growth in the world, together with the industrial revolution and its side effects, brings along the risk of reaching healthy food for every newborn and existing population. Contamination and/or accumulation of heavy metals, known as the source of oxidative stress, in foodstuffs and the environment directly affects human health. Since plants are often the first recipients of heavy metals from different environments (such as air, water and soil), it is not surprising that this results in scary scenarios for all living organisms. Therefore, to determine and dispose of the possible downsides in human diet which relates to heavy metals, we examined whether physiological parameters are reliable indicators of oxidative stress in different crop plants. Either with single or combined CdCl2 and PbCl2 treatments, germination percentage, root and shoot lengths and water contents were measured in the roots and shoots of Triticum aestivum cv. Gerek and Hordeum vulgare cv. Çıldır varieties in this study. According to obtained results, it is concluded that heavy metal treatments trigger the oxidative stress in plants, as all parameters measured are dramatically decreased.