AN EVALUATION OF THE HEAVY METAL CONTENT OF SOIL, LEAVES AND FRUIT IN STRAWBERRY PLANTATIONS IN THE GEDIZ BASIN

In recent years, yield-focused production in agriculture aimed at meeting the world's increasing need for food has brought with it a number of damaging environmental problems. Among the most important of these is the accumulation of heavy metals in the soil, deriving from the uninformed and excessive use of agricultural fertilizers. Over the years, these heavy metals accumulate in the soil, from where they are taken up by plants, which are then eaten by animals, directly affecting the plant-animal-human food chain. In this study, an analysis was made of heavy metal pollution arising from the uninformed use of fertilizers and pesticides for strawberry production in the Gediz Basin of Turkey. The research was performed on two varieties of strawberry, Festival and Camarosa, which are widely grown in the area. Taking samples from plantations of each variety, ten soil samples were examined for their physical and chemical characteristics and total heavy metal content, and the heavy metal content of leaf and fruit samples was investigated. The soil-plant relationship was evaluated using the Pearson correlation test. The findings of the study showed no Cr, Cd, Co, Pb or Ni pollution according to national and international standards in the soils of the basin. The leaves of the two varieties in the two years of the experiment showed that the amounts of Cd were above the limit values. Pb and Cr contents of leaves were found to be respectively 50% and 30% above the critical values. Regarding the content of the heavy metals investigated in the fruits, only Cd and Pb showed values above the acceptable levels. Positive correlations were determined between the soil and leaf Cd contents and soil, leaf and fruit Pb contents only in the first year of the experiment in the soils of the Camarosa variety. The differences between the heavy metal contents of soil, leaf and fruit of the two varieties were found to be insignificant in both years examined.