Pairing corn with a toxic-metal weed backfires for food safety
Nie Z, Gu L, Pi B, Yu G, Du W, Li P, Zhong J, Song J.
Phytoremediation
If you're gardening near an old industrial site or busy roadway, this study is a reminder that pairing crops with metal-absorbing plants doesn't always keep contamination out of your food, sometimes it pulls the danger straight into the parts you'd eat.
Researchers grew corn next to a wild nightshade relative known for soaking up cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, hoping the nightshade would protect the corn. Instead, both plants grew bigger and healthier together, but the corn ended up absorbing more cadmium into its stalks and leaves than when grown alone. That's bad news if you're trying to grow food safely on contaminated land, since the intercropping trick meant to shield the corn actually backfired.
Key Findings
Intercropping increased maize root and shoot biomass by 13.58% and 8.58%, and increased Solanum nigrum root and shoot biomass by 13.87% and 12.26%, compared to monocultures.
Intercropping decreased root cadmium in maize but increased shoot cadmium content and the cadmium translocation factor, meaning more metal moved into aboveground tissue.
Both plant species showed improved photosynthetic pigments, gas exchange, and antioxidant enzyme activity when grown together under cadmium stress (5 mg/L).
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that growing corn alongside a cadmium-absorbing weed actually pulls more toxic cadmium up into the corn's edible parts, making this pairing risky rather than helpful for farming on contaminated soil.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Maize intercropping with cadmium-hyperaccumulator plant <i>Solanum nigrum</i> var<i>. humile</i> promotes growth and cadmium uptake of both plant species.
To alleviate the cadmium (Cd) stress in maize, we investigated the effects of intercropping maize with the Cd-hyperaccumulator plant <i>Solanum nigrum</i> var. <i>humile</i> on the growth and Cd up...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Maize, also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. The leafy stalk of the plant gives rise to male inflorescences or tassels which produce pollen, and female inflorescences called ears. The ears yield grain, known as kernels or seeds. In modern ...