EFFECT OF HEAVY METALS COPPER AND CADMIUM EXPOSURE ON THE ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF THE PLANT BRASSICA JUNCEA

The Contamination of the environment by toxic metals poses a threat for “Man and biosphere”, reducing agricultural productivity and damaging the health of the ecosystem. Phytoextraction has emerged as a novel approach to clean up metal-polluted soils in which plants are used to transfer toxic metals from soils to shoots.During the accumulation of heavy metal, the antioxidant defence system helps the plant to protect itself from the damage caused by heavy metals. Antioxidants are substances that protect itself from damage caused by oxidation. In the present work the plant Brassica juncea was exposed to the sublethal and half of sublethal concentration of copper and cadmium spiked soils and the antioxidant factors were investigated. The results showed that biochemical factors, vitamins and minerals, antioxidant activity and catalase values were decreased and proline, SOD and reduced glutathione values were increased compared to garden (control) soil.