Environmental Science and Pollution Research

, Volume 23, Issue 16, pp 16432–16439 | Cite as

Timing of foliar Zn application plays a vital role in minimizing Cd accumulation in wheat

  • Saifullah
  • Hina Javed
  • Asif Naeem
  • Zed Rengel
  • Saad Dahlawi
Research Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Due to chemical and biochemical similarities between cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn), application of Zn may minimize Cd uptake by plants and ameliorate its toxicity. However, there is poor understanding of the comparative effectiveness of the foliar Zn application at different growth stages on Cd toxicity and accumulation in wheat. The present study was carried out to compare the effectiveness of foliarly applied Zn at different stages of plant growth to minimize Cd accumulation in wheat grains. Wheat (cv AARI-2011) was grown at three levels of soil Cd (0, 2.5, and 5.0 mg kg−1). Foliar application of Zn was carried out at either tillering, jointing, booting, heading, or grain filling stage using 0.05 % w/v aqueous solution of ZnSO4 · 7H2O. Increasing soil Cd had a negative effect on growth and yield attributes, including tiller production, root length and dry weight, plant height, 100-grain weight and grain and straw yield. Zinc foliar spray increased grain yield by increasing tiller production; importantly, an application at booting was more effective than at other stages. Foliarly applied Zn decreased Cd concentration in the roots, straw, and grain. Similar to grain yield, the largest decrease (74 %) in Cd concentration was associated with Zn foliar spray at booting. Grain yield was negatively related to grain Cd concentration which in turn showed a negative relationship with Zn concentration in leaves and grains. It is concluded that the booting stage is the suitable time for foliar application of Zn to (i) effectively minimize a Cd-induced loss in grain yield and (ii) decrease grain Cd concentration.

Keywords

Cadmium translocation Zinc foliar spray Grain Cd Grain Zn Wheat 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

Financial support for this research work by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan under research project “Safe Food Production from Soils Contaminated with Cadmium” and University of Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is gratefully acknowledged.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Saifullah
    • 1
  • Hina Javed
    • 2
  • Asif Naeem
    • 2
    • 3
  • Zed Rengel
    • 4
  • Saad Dahlawi
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Environmental Health, College of Applied Medical SciencesUniversity of DammamDammamKingdom of Saudi Arabia
  2. 2.Institute of Soil and Environmental SciencesUniversity of AgricultureFaisalabadPakistan
  3. 3.Soil Science DivisionNuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB)FaisalabadPakistan
  4. 4.School of Earth and EnvironmentUniversity of Western AustraliaCrawleyAustralia

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