Abstract
The present study intended to evaluate the remediation ability of carrot plants to remove Cu and Zn from the contaminated soil using growth and biochemical attributes. Furthermore, the possible mechanisms such as accumulation or exclusion regarding metal tolerance in carrot plants were also assessed. Our data showed that metal toxicity affected the plants. However, the growth of root was decreased substantially as compared to shoot under heavy metal stress. The oxidative stress indicators such as H2O2 and Malondialdehyde (MDA) were increased as the metal concentration increased. Physiological mechanism enlightened that the level of soluble sugars and chlorophyll content index was reduced as the metal concentration increased in the soil due to damages in the reactive centers of PSII at higher metal concentrations, Cu in particular. Furthermore, higher metal content was observed in roots as compared to shoots. Greater bioaccumulation factor and lower translocation factors were recorded for the carrot plants. The zinc metal showed relatively better physiological activities due to less metal accumulation in shoot. It is concluded that carrot plants tolerate Cu a
