The quest for food safety is very high in this era of environmental pollution. Greenhouse and field experiments were conducted to determine the effects of cadmium, copper and lead on vegetative and fruit yield of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) in Abeokuta, Southwestern Nigeria in 2011 and 2012. The greenhouse experiment consisted of three heavy metal concentrations (0, 2, 5 kg ha-1) of each metal applied singly and in combinations (binary and ternary).The pots were arranged in Completely Randomized Design with three replicates. Three tomato seedlings were transplanted to each pot and at fourteen weeks, they were harvested, separated into stems, leaves and fruits which were dried, weighed and analyzed for the metals. The treatments in the greenhouse experiment were also evaluated on the field using Randomized Complete Block Design. Bioaccumulation of cadmium, copper and lead were observed in tomato plant parts where bioaccumulation of one metal was influenced by the presence of other metals in metal mixtures. Heavy metals reduced the microbial activities in the soil with a resultant effect in vegetative parts and fruit yield of tomato. Heavy metal treatments reduced the yield to 0.10 t ha-1 compared with control (0.37 t ha-1) under greenhouse, while it was 2.61t ha-1 and 0.75t ha-1 for control and treated plot respectively under field trial. Single and combined metal treatments produced additive, synergistic and antagonistic responses in incubated soils, vegetative parts and fruits of tomato. These heavy metal concentrations in vegetative parts and fruit of tomato were higher than the 0.1, 0.4 and 0.3 mg kg-1 respective permissible levels by the World Health Organization for cadmium, copper and lead.

Assessment of phytotoxicity potential of cadmium, copper, and lead on tomato (<i>Lycopersicon esculentum</i> Mill.) planted on contaminated soil

248th National Meeting (2014)

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Assessment of phytotoxicity potential of cadmium, copper, and lead on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) planted on contaminated soil