CITRIC ACID INDUCED CADMIUM STRESS TOLERANCE IN CHILI (Capsicum annuum L.)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Cadmium (Cd) is a major crop stressor posing a potential threat to food safety. Citric acid (CA) is well known to reduce Cd stress symptoms and improve plat growth. This study aims to investigate the growth and yield response to exogenous CA application under Cd stress on chili (Capsicum annuum L. cv. BARI Morich-2). The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications in pots at agroforestry farm, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka. Chili seedlings were treated with a single and combined dose of Cd and CA (2 mM and 4 mM CdCl 2 ; and 1 mM and 5 mM CA) at 15 and 30 days after transplanting. The results showed that the chili plants grown exposed to 1.0 mM and 2.0 mM CdCl 2 faced reduction in plant height (16 – 58%), number of leaves per plant (50 – 73%), fruit length (24 – 45%), fruit diameter (20-28%), fruit per plant (17- 49%), and yield per hectare (35- 64%) in all the growth stages. Plants only treated with 1 mM CA had maximum plant height (49 cm), number of leaves per plant (91), number of branches per plant (8), fruit length (5.44cm), fruit diameter (0.68 cm), fruit weight (1.32 gm), number of fruit per plant (50), fresh weight (115.67 gm), dry weight (1.25 gm), relative water content (91%), chlorophyll content (70.67), and yield (1.67 t/ha). 1 mM CA under 2 mM CdCl 2 performed best by improving plant height 5-28%, number of leaves per plant 11 – 38%, fruit length 19 – 27%, fresh weight 11 – 13%, dry weight improved 10 - 12%, and yield 41- 57% compared to the plants grown in 2 mM CdCl 2 .