Author(s): Pinto, Filipa Rego
Date: 2011
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/4182
Origin: Repositório da UTL
Subject(s): Spinacea oleracea; spinach; cadmium; oxidative stress
Author(s): Pinto, Filipa Rego
Date: 2011
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/4182
Origin: Repositório da UTL
Subject(s): Spinacea oleracea; spinach; cadmium; oxidative stress
Mestrado em Engenharia Agronómica - Instituto Superior de Agronomia
The main objective of this work was to evaluate the response of spinach plants to induced stress by cadmium, at concentrations of 25 and 50 μM, in nutrient solution for 7 days. The maximum cadmium concentration transferred to the plant was, respectively, 0,21 and 5,25 μg g-1 FW in leaves and 0,75 and 13,94 μg g-1 FW in the roots. Physiological parameters like shoot and root mass and length, number of leafs and total biomass were evaluated. The concentration of malonaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide was determined by spectrophotometry and the concentration of chlorophyll was measured by spectrophotometry and a non destructive method, Hansatech. The contaminated plants showed a slightly shorter length with more leafs and higher biomass, but most of these changes were not statistically significant. The concentration of MDA and H2O2 was higher in plants contaminated with 25 μM cadmium and the levels of chlorophyll were lower in plants contaminated with 50 μM cadmium. The correlations of parameters showed that spinach plants showed some sensitivity to 25 μM cadmium concentrations. These plants were shown to be able to absorb and accumulate Cd, which can propagate in the food chain and induce toxic effects in humans and other animals.