Organic Amendments Improved wheat Growth in Cd-Contaminated Soil

Background and Aims Using organic amendments proposes a cost-effective solution to reduce cadmium mobility and uptake by plants under polluted soil. Methods Various organic amendments namely peanut shell (PN), sunflower shell (SF), walnut shell (WL) and peas peels (PS) once at a rate of 10% was applied to investigate whether and how plant growth of wheat ( Triticum durum Desf. var. VITRON.) was affected when growing in Cd (50 mg kg ^− 1 ) contaminated soil, along with control in which distilled water was used without Cd contamination. This effect was evaluated through germination parameters (germination kinetics, germination speed, germination rate and emergence rate), growth parameters (leaf area, total weight, total plant length, shoot and root length, number of roots and leaves) and physiological parameters (relative water content, relative electrolyte leakage, membrane stability index, total chlorophyll content, soluble sugar, protein and proline content). Results The results showed that stressors significantly decreased the vegetative growth parameters, altered speed germination (p < 0.05), total plant weight (p < 0.001), membrane stability index (p < 0.05), leaf area and shoot length (p < 0.001). However, application of organic amendments seems to attenuate the negative effects of the Cd stress by the improvement of germination speed, total weight, membrane stability, leaf area, plant length, number of roots, relative water content, total chlorophyll content, proteins, proline and soluble sugar content in roots. Conclusions Overall, the application of PN or WL was more efficient in decreasing Cd effect in leaf and roots of wheat as compared to other organic amendments.