Screening of tomato cultivars in cadmium-polluted areas and study on their antioxidant capacity

Abstract

To screen the available tomato pollution-safe cultivar varieties and reduce the potential food safety risks in Cd-polluted areas, the differences of Cd accumulation in different tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) varieties in southern China were studied by soil culture and hydroponic experiments. Firstly, the high and low accumulation varieties were selected from 25 tomato varieties under 2.94 mg/kg Cd stress by soil culture test, and then the responses of high and low accumulation tomato varieties to Cd stress were determined by hydroponic experiments. The results of soil culture test show that under 2.94 mg/kg Cd stress, there were significant differences in plant height, total biomass and yield among 25 tomato cultivars, and the Cd contents of fruits of all 25 tomato cultivars exceeded the highest limit value (0.05 mg/kg) of CAC (Codex alimentarius commission). Through cluster analysis, 7, 4 and 14 varieties accumulating relatively high, medium, and low concentrations of Cd in the fruits were screened, among which the highest, the lowest, and the average Cd contents in the fruits were 3.06 mg/kg DW, 1.47 mg/kg DW, and 2.21 mg/kg DW, respectively. The results of hydroponic experiment show that under the same concentration of Cd stress, Qiantangxuri F1, a high Cd accumulating variety, absorbed Cd faster, accumulated more Cd, used shorter oxidative stress response time and had stronger tolerance to Cd than Zhefen 3053, a low Cd accumulating variety. The typical high and low Cd accumulating varieties can provide a reference for agricultural production in heavy metal polluted areas and the development of molecular-assisted breeding methods of PSC. At present, cultivating low Cd accumulating PSC varieties and dynamic monitoring of Cd contents in tomato fruits are feasible methods in medium and light Cd-polluted areas.