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• Cadmium (Cd) toxicity significantly hindered horticultural plant growth and development. • Phytohormones mitigate Cd toxicity in plants. • Phytohormones regulate antioxidant defense system in plants. • Phytohormones upregulate secondary metabolites production in plants. Cadmium (Cd) is an extremely toxic heavy metal (HM) that poses significant threats to the growth and development of horticultural plants. The accumulation of Cd in plants can occur through root uptake or foliar absorption, leading to disturbances in various physiological and biochemical functions. Cd toxicity manifests in horticultural plants through several symptoms, including inhibited growth, chlorosis, necrosis, impaired photosynthesis, and disruptions in nutrient uptake and metabolism. Cd toxicity disrupt crucial metabolic function in plants including oxidative damage, DNA damage, and altering antioxidant enzyme activity. To mitigate the toxic effects of Cd in horticultural plants, a comprehensive approach is required. This approach encompasses various strategies, including effective management practices, utilization of phytohormones and traditional plant growth regulators, and the cultivation of Cd-tolerant cultivars. Implementing these measures has demonstrated promising outcomes in reducing Cd toxicity in horticultural plants. This review sheds light on the potential roles of different stress mitigants in alleviating Cd toxicity in horticultural plants. By employing these strategies, researchers and practitioners can contribute to the development of sustainable and resilient horticultural systems, ensuring the health and productivity of plants in the presence of Cd contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sewage wastewater is one of the richest sources of mineral nutrients contributing toward plant growth and yield. However, the accumulation of heavy metals in the edible parts of vegetables and fruits can be dangerous to life. The current research aimed to evaluate the performance of a sand column filter for the elimination of heavy metals from sewage wastewater applied to selected vegetables. The contents of heavy metals, i.e., Pb+2, Ni+2, Cu+2, and Fe+2, were estimated to be higher in untreated sewage wastewater than in treated water. The number of leaves, fresh and dry weights of leaves, roots, and total biomass of lettuce, carrot, and cauliflower were improved due to the irrigation of unfiltered sewage wastewater compared to sewage wastewater. The curd diameter, fresh and dry weights of curd, stem fresh weight of cauliflower, and the root length and diameter of carrot increased after irrigation with the unfiltered sewage wastewater in comparison to the treated sewage wastewater. The accumulation of heavy metals, i.e., Pb+2, Ni+2, Cu+2, and Fe+2, was higher in the roots, leaves, and edible parts of the selected vegetables. In the present study, the Cd+2 and Cr+2 concentrations were not affected by the filtration process through a sand column filter. Conclusively, filtration through a sand column filter is effective for the removal of heavy metals from sewage wastewater used to irrigate agricultural land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum is a neurotoxicant and one of the most harmful metals in the environment; it is producing tissue inflammation and oxidative stress. Curcumin is an effective antioxidant and neuroprotective compound with medicinal potential. Curcumin's effect on AL toxicity was investigated in this study. Two groups of 70 mature adult albino rats were used, each of which was subdivided into five groups: Control, Vehicle, Curcumin, Aluminum, and Curcumin + Aluminum group. For two periods of 20 and 40 days, animal models were administered orally AlCl3 (20 mg kg-1 bw) and/or Curcumin (100 mg kg-1 bw). In the cerebral cortex, aluminum caused a significant rise (p < 0.05) in lipid peroxidation and DNA fragmentation, as well as a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase. In the brain hippocampus, aluminum caused a major reduction (p < 0.05) in neurotransmitters (dopamine and serotonin), while Acetylcholine esterase activity increased sharply (p < 0.05). Aluminum also triggered histological analyses in the hippocampus of the brain. Curcumin co-administration considerably reduced the increase in lipid peroxidation and DNA fragmentation, but also enhanced the depletion of antioxidant enzymes. Curcumin also reversed the decline in neurotransmitters, the increase in Acetylcholine esterase, and the distortion in the brain hippocampus.

• Silicon and nanosilicon mitigating the adverse effects of cadmium stress in fruit trees. • Silicon application enhancing the antioxidative capacity of fruit trees under cadmium stress. • Silicon supplementation increased fruit yield and reduced cadmium accumulation. • Silicon and nano silicon reduced oxidative damage in fruit crops under cadmium stress. For quality fruit production, balance fertilization and irrigation with good quality water had significant effects. The commercial production of fruits is badly affected due to heavy metals accumulation in soil. Among heavy metals, cadmium (Cd) is found in higher amount which greatly accumulate in fruits. Hence, consumption of such fruits causing different diseases in humans. Cd induced conditions decreased growth, yield and deteriorate fruit quality globally. Soil contaminated with Cd is mainly due to urbanization, industrialization and frequent application of chemicals. The absorption, uptake, translocation and accumulation of Cd is toxic for fruit crops. Cd stress resulted in oxidative stress and injury of cell wall due to toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Cell wall important functioning is protection from heavy metals entry into cytoplasm. Fruit tree produces antioxidant compounds which acts as scavengers of toxic ROS. Different management approaches i.e. molecular basis, mineral nutrients and proteomics can be adopted for mitigation of adverse of Cd on fruit crops. Among mineral nutrients, silicon (Si) and silicon nano-particles (Si-NPs) sprays are effective for mitigation of negative effects of Cd toxicity on fruit crops by improving antioxidant activities, osmolytes and photosynthetic pigments resulted in improved growth, yield, and quality. Current study encourages the application of Si and Si-NPs on fruit trees under Cd stress conditions. However, Si-NPs are more effective as compared to Si bulk form due to easier passage into cell wall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing of vegetables by the use of sewage water in peri-urban areas is a common practice which leads to heavy contamination of vegetables with metal ions. An experiment was conducted to compare the effect of canal, tube well and sewage water on growth, yield, biomass production and heavy metals accumulation in spinach. The heavy metals (Pb, Ni, Cu, Cd, Fe and Cr) contents in different water sources, soils and spinach plant parts grown with these irrigation sources were examined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results declared that sewage water resulted in significantly greater growth, yield, biomass production and heavy metals contents compared with canal and tube well water and these metals contents were exceeding above the critical limits. Cu, Cd and Fe contents in sewage water irrigated soils were found above the maximum permissible limits, while Pb, Ni and Cr contents were within safer limits. Significantly greater heavy metals accumulation was recorded in edible parts of spinach grown with sewage water compared with canal and tube well water, which were exceeding the maximum permissible limits (MPLs). Canal water irrigated leaves samples also contained Cd and Fe above the permissible limits while all other metals contents were found within safe limits. The study concludes that regular examine of metals contents may possibly helpful in minimizing accumulation of these metals in the foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among xenobiotics, metals gained attention because of their toxicity and harmful effects on aquatic ecosystems, fish and the human health. Present experiment was conducted to determine the genotoxic effects of individual metals viz. arsenic (As), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) in peripheral blood erythrocytes of four freshwater fish species viz. Labeo rohita (rohu), Cirrhina mrigala (mori), Catla catla (thaila) and Ctenopharyngodon idella (grass carp) by using Comet assay. For this purpose fish were exposed to four different sub-lethal concentrations (17, 25, 33 and 50% of LC50) of As, Cu, and Zn for a period of 30-day. All the four fish species showed significantly different extant of DNA damage in-terms of percent damaged cells, genetic damage index (GDI) and cumulative tail length of comets due to metals exposure. Among four fish species, Cirrhina mrigala showed significantly (P<0.05) higher percentage of damaged cells, GDI and cumulative tail length of comets with the mean values of 52±6%, 1.6±0.3 and 152±35 µm, respectively. However, Catla catla showed significantly lower percentage of damaged cells and GDI with the mean values of 29±4% and 1.1±0.1, respectively. This study indicated that individual metals and metals mixture, existing in aquatic habitats of Pakistan can induce DNA damage in indigenous fish fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was aimed to inspect the efficiency of different sewage water irrigation frequency treatments on growth, yield and heavy metals accumulation of tomato and okra during 2012 and 2013. A statistical randomized complete block design was applied in the field to perform experiments having three replicates while 03 sewage water irrigation frequency treatments i.e., 5, 10 and 15-days interval. The tomato yield, their growth along with the production of the plant biomass were increased considerably with more repetitive (interval of five days) application of the sewage water. While reasonably less repetitive application (interval of fifteen days) of sewage water cause the less production of biomass, yield and growth. Moderately less repetitive applications (interval of ten days) of sewage water showed a significant increase in the addressed attributes of production in okra. The yield, as well as growth aspects of the okra, were reduced noticeably by using the reasonably less repetitive application. Frequent sewage water application resulted in an increased amount of Fe, Cu, Pb, Cr, Ni and Cd in okra pods and tomato fruits than moderately and less repetitive irrigation. The leaves and root of okra and tomato displayed the higher contents of metal when these crops were cultivated with a repetitive application of the sewage water. The final result revealed that the metal concentration high in tomato and okra plant parts with decreasing irrigation intervals of sewage water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary goal of this research is to investigate the mitigating effect of silicon (Si; 2 mM) on the growth of tomato seedlings under vanadium (V; 40 mg) stress. V stress caused higher V uptake in leaf, and enhanced concentration of leaf anthocyanin, H 2 O 2 , O 2 •−, and MDA, but a decreased in plant biomass, root architecture system, leaf pigments content, mineral elements, and Fv/Fm (PSII maximum efficiency). Si application increased the concentrations of crucial antioxidant molecules such as AsA and GSH, as well as the action of key antioxidant enzymes comprising APX, GR, DHAR, and MDHAR. Importantly, oxidative damage was remarkably alleviated by upregulation of these antioxidant enzymes genes. Moreover, Si application enhanced the accumulation of secondary metabolites as well as the expression their related-genes, and these secondary metabolites may restricted the excessive accumulation of H 2 O 2. In addition, Si rescued tomato plants against the damaging effects of MG by boosting the Gly enzymes activity. The results confirmed that spraying Si to plants might diminish the V accessibility to plants, along with promotion of V stress resistance. [Display omitted] • Silicon increased leaf photosynthesis performance of tomato seedling. • Silicon inhibited vanadium accumulation from root to shoot. • Silicon modified root structure and improved ion homeostasis in tomato seedlings. • Silicon up-regulated the antioxidant enzymes system of tomato seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of horticulture crops is severely restricted by abiotic stress factors such as salinity, drought, temperature fluctuation (low and high), and heavy metals (HMs). Abiotic stress causes metabolic changes in horticultural plants that impair growth and productivity. In this era of global climate change, extreme environmental conditions reinforce the situation and severely limit plant growth and productivity. Researchers have been investigating for a long time to determine how resilience and response to environmental stress elements. The use of phytohormones to mitigate the adverse effects of abiotic stresses on horticultural plants has been widely acknowledged as a powerful strategy. Salicylic acid (SA) has been extensively studied for its importance in improving plant abiotic stress tolerance. However, the processes that may underlie SA-induced plant tolerance to significant abiotic stressors are still poorly understood. Based on recent reports, this paper provides an overview of the role of SA in horticultural plants under both optimal and stressful conditions; critically evaluates the role of SA in plants exposed to key abiotic stresses; discusses potential mechanisms potentially governing SA-induced plant abiotic stress-tolerance; and briefly highlights significant aspects that have yet to be explored in the current context. [Display omitted] • Abiotic stresses significantly hindered plant growth and development. • Salicylic acid is a phenolic molecule that regulates plant growth and development. • Salicylic acid efficiently protected leaf photosynthetic efficiency under stress environment. • Salicylic acid reduced oxidative damage and increased antioxidant enzymes activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]