EFFECTS OF CADMIUM ON NICOTINE, REDUCING SUGARS AND PHENOLIC CONTENTS OF BASMA TOBACCO VARIETY

Cadmium (Cd), a heavy metal can be easily incorporated into the food chain due to its high mobility in soil-plant system and thus hazardous for plant, animal and human health. Cadmium, accumulated by plants, causes the degradation of many metabolic activities such as protein synthesis, nitrogen and carbohydrate metabolism, enzyme activation, photosynthesis and chlorophyll synthesis. In this study, the effects of increasing Cd doses (0, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg Cd kg-1) on nicotine, reducing sugar and phenolic compounds of Xanthi/2A tobacco variety were investigated under greenhouse conditions. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with four replications. All matured tobacco leaves were harvested in three hands and dried at sun. The Cd, nicotine, glucose, fructose, chlorogenic and rutin concentrations of leaf samples were determined. The increasing Cd application to soil (P