TITLE:
Physiological Responses of Different Chinese Cabbage Varieties to Cd and Pb Stresses
AUTHORS:
Shiqi Peng, Hao Zhang, Liyuan Mu, Junlei Wang, Sijing Sun, Ao Li, Naiming Zhang, Li Bao
KEYWORDS:
Heavy Metal Stress, Physiological Response, Osmoregulatory Substances, Antioxidant Enzymes
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.13 No.9,
September
10,
2025
ABSTRACT: Soil cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) pollution is becoming increasingly serious; heavy metals are accumulating in soil and agricultural products, and vegetables, as an indispensable part of people’s daily diet, affect human health through the food chain. This study investigated the effects of different concentrations of Cd and Pb stress on growth root length, above-ground/below-ground biomass, chlorophyll, osmoregulatory substances (soluble proteins, soluble sugars, proline) content, and antioxidant enzymes (malondialdehyde (MDA), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT)) activities of four Cd and Pb high- and low-accumulating varieties of Chinese cabbage in hydroponic mode. The results showed that under Cd and Pb stress, Chinese cabbage could resist heavy metal stress by increasing the contents of osmoregulatory substances and the activities of antioxidant enzymes in the leaves. However, with the increase of heavy metal concentration, the physiological metabolic activities of Chinese cabbage leaf cells were affected, and the activities of POD, CAT, SOD, and osmoregulators decreased, while the osmoregulators of low Cd and Pb accumulating varieties were more stable, and the activities of POD, CAT, and SOD reached the peak value first compared with those of the high accumulating varieties. This study analyzed the physiological functions of different accumulating types of Chinese cabbage under Cd and Pb stress, in order to provide a theoretical basis for cultivating low Cd and Pb accumulating varieties.