Foliar application of citric acid alleviates lead toxicity and enhances physiological resilience in tomato seedlings.
Mahamud MA, Imran S, Sarker P, Chakrobortty J, Paul NC
Phytoremediation
If citric acid — a cheap, food-safe compound — can protect vegetables grown in lead-contaminated soil, it could offer home gardeners and farmers a practical way to grow safer food in urban or industrial areas where soil pollution is a real concern.
Lead in soil is a serious problem that stunts plant growth and can make food unsafe to eat. Researchers found that spraying tomato seedlings with citric acid acted like a shield, helping the plants stay healthy, keep their green color, and absorb the right nutrients even when lead was present. This suggests that a common, inexpensive acid could be used as a simple treatment to help food crops survive in polluted growing conditions.
Key Findings
Lead stress significantly reduced plant growth, water content, and photosynthetic pigments in tomato seedlings grown in hydroponic conditions.
Foliar application of citric acid at specific doses reversed lead-induced damage, restoring physiological indicators like chlorophyll levels and ionic balance (including calcium).
The study identified a dose-dependent response, meaning the protective effect of citric acid varied with concentration, pointing toward an optimizable treatment strategy.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Spraying tomato seedlings with citric acid helped protect them from lead poisoning in soil, restoring growth and improving the plant's ability to photosynthesize and manage nutrients even under heavy metal stress.
Abstract Preview
Contamination of heavy metals in agricultural soils, particularly with lead (Pb), poses a severe hazard to ecosystems, crop production, and food safety. Although citric acid has been proposed as a ...
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