Variations in cadmium accumulation among Chinese cabbage cultivars and screening for Cd-safe cultivars

Variations in cadmium accumulation and translocation among 40 Chinese cabbage cultivars were studied to identify and screen out Cd-safe cultivars (CSCs), i.e. cultivars with low enough accumulation of Cd in their edible parts even when grown in contaminated soils. It was observed in the pot-culture experiment that there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in shoot Cd concentrations under three Cd treatments (1.0, 2.5 and 5.0mg/kg), with corresponding average values 0.88, 4.45 and 7.76 mg/kg, respectively. Shoot Cd concentrations in 16 cabbage cultivars were lower than 0.50mg/kg. The translocation factors (TFs) and the extraction factors (EFs) in five cabbage cultivars were lower than 1.0 in the pot-culture experiment. The field-culture experiment further validated that New Beijing 3 and Fengyuanxin 3 could be considered as CSCs. In particular, the two cultivars can be cultivated in low to moderate Cd-contaminated soils (Cd concentration <1.25mg/kg) to minimize the Cd accumulation in the food.