Chromium (Cr)
contamination in
soil is a growing concern in
sustainable agriculture production and
food safety. We performed pot experiment with
chromium (30 mg/
soil) to assess the accumulation potential of
Zea mays and study the influence of four
fertilizers, viz.
Farm Yard
Manure (FYM), NPK, Panchakavya (PK) and Vermicompost (VC) with
respect to Cr accumulation. The
oxidative stress and pigment (
chlorophyll) levels were also examined. The results showed increased accumulation of
chromium in both shoots and roots of
Zea mays under FYM and NPK
supply, and reduced with PK and VC. While the
protein and pigment contents decreased in Cr treated
plants, the
fertilizers substantiated the loss to overcome the stress. Similarly, accumulation of Cr increased the levels of
antioxidant enzymes such as
catalase (
CAT),
superoxide dismutase (SOD), and
peroxidase (POD) indicating the enhanced damage control activity. However, these levels were relatively low in
plants supplemented with
fertilizers. Our results confirm that the
maize can
play an effective
role in
bioremediation of
soils polluted with
chromium, particularly in supplementation with
fertilizers such as
farm yard
manure and NPK.