Influência do acúmulo de cromo nos índices de compostos secundários em mudas de café conilon

Abstract

All plants have some kind of secondary metabolism that is, for many times, defensive mechanism or alternatives for survival in stressful environments. Tannery sludge can be potentially used as a component of substrate for plants, however, high amounts of chromium present in this residue may cause physiological disturbance as well as the stress in plants. The aim of this experiment was to identify and correlate the presence of stress in plants caused by the successive increase of tannery sludge doses in substrate for Conilon coffee seedlings. The experimental design was randomized blocks with four treatments (10, 20 and 40% clay) and twelve replicates, and a conventional substrate of Conilon coffee seedlings production. We evaluated the chromium levels in different parts of seedlings, flavonoid content and the coloration of the leaves. With the increasing of the doses on substrate, there was a higher accumulation of chromium by the plants, both on the top and in the roots. The flavonoid content was positively affected by sludge application on the substrate. The leaf color parameters were not affected by sludge application on the substrate.