Cadmium Chloride Induced Biochemical Changes in Triticum aestivum (L.) Var. MP LOK 1

The seeds of Triticum aestivum var. MP LOK1 were sown in earthen pots and cadmium chloride treatment was given. The plants were treated with increasing concentrations of cadmium chloride i.e., 25, 50 and 100 ppm. The aim of this work was to determine the effects of cadmium chloride on the photosynthetic pigments, polyphenol, proline and antioxidative response in Triticum aestivum. It is evident from the results that chlorophyll content of the wheat was not much affected by the lower levels of cadmium chloride but significantly affected at 100 ppm level. It was slightly increased only at 25 ppm by 5.10%. The polyphenol content of the leaves was increased at 25 and 50 ppm of the cadmium chloride but decreased by 16.54% at 100 ppm of the metal salt. Maximum increase in proline content was found as 27.36% at 100 ppm of cadmium chloride. The increased levels of polyphenols at elevated levels of cadmium chloride might be to tolerate higher levels of cadmium stress. The elevated activities of catalase and peroxidase under metal salt probably came for maintenance of cellular membranes while decrease at elevated levels of cadmium chloride might be due to the toxic nature of cadmium chloride. The details of the parameters studied are discussed in the present paper.