Impact of lead contaminated water on root morphology of tomato and brinjal

Abstract

A pot study was conducted to investigate the impact of heavy metal (lead) content in waste waters on root growth of two important vegetables crops, namely, tomato and brinjal. The treatments consisted of four concentrations of Pb, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10 ppm. The soil used in the study was sandy loam. Normal water was used as control (0 ppm). The root morphological parameters investigated were: fresh weight, dry weight, length, surface area, root length density, volume, as well as number of root forks, crossings and tips. The presence of Pb in irrigation water had a significant impact on all the root related morphological parameters. The root fresh weight got decreased from 22.56 g/pot recorded in control to 5.82 g/pot in 10 ppm treatment in tomato. In brinjal, it decreased from 21.11 g/pot in control to 5.86 g/pot in 10 ppm treatment. In case of root length density also, it decreased from 495.72 cm/m3/pot in control to 44.76 cm/m3/pot in 10 ppm treatment in tomato and 417.76 to 97.48 cm/m3/pot in the corresponding treatments in brinjal. A similar trend was observed for all other morphological parameters. From the results, it was shown that tomato was more sensitive to Pb compared to brinjal.