Effect of Cattle Slurry on the Growth of Spinach Plants in Cd-contaminated Soil

ABSTRACT

In this work the effect of the addition of different amounts of cattle slurry (CS) to a Cd contaminated soil, was studied regarding its effect in spinach plants. Two levels of Cd contamination (2 and 10 mg/kg) and three levels of CS addition were evaluated (2.5, 5 and 10 g CS/100 g soil). Spinach was shown to be a tolerant species, able to accumulate relatively high amounts of Cd (up to 367.7 mg/kg in the leaves), exceeding the limits established by European regulations for leaf vegetables. The addition of 2.5 and 5 g CS/100 g to soil containing 2 mg/kg Cd did not reduce the uptake of this metal but allowed the plants to grow as much as the control. The addition of 10 g CS/100 g lead to a reduced Cd uptake but also to a lower plant growth compared to the lower CS levels. The combined effects of Cd and CS changed element content in the plant, but without causing severe toxicity or deficiency effects.

KEYWORDS:

• Cadmium
• mineral content
• spinach
• manure
• abiotic stress

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Filipa R. Pinto acknowledges funding from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Lisboa, Portugal) in the form of grant SFRH/BD/81080/2011. This work was partially funded by FCT Research Project PTDC/AGRAAM/102821/2008 and by the FCT-funded research unit LEAF - Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food (UID/AGR/04129/2013).