Studies on screening kiwifruit cultivars with low cadmium accumulation

In order to promote the adjustment of the planting structure of a large area of cadmium- (Cd) contaminated soil, explore Cd uptake and accumulation by kiwifruit and select low-Cd-accumulating cultivars, orchard soil and the content of Cd in branches, leaves, roots and fruit of kiwifruit trees were analyzed. The results showed that Cd accumulation differed in different organs of kiwifruit. The Cd content of roots, leaves and fruit was 0.316, 0.198, and 0.011 mg kg^‑1, respectively. Under the same background value of soil Cd (0.520 mg kg^‑1), Cd uptake by different kiwifruit cultivars was different. ‘Miliang No.1’ showed a strong absorptive capacity (Cd content of root system 0.320 mg kg^‑1) compared with other cultivars, followed by ‘Kuimi’ (0.150 mg kg^‑1). The Cd content in branches and leaves of ‘Miliang No.1’ increased significantly, and the Cd content in the fruit increased more than fivefold with 4.900 mg kg^‑1 Cd soil contamination. However, the Cd content of the fruit was only 0.014 mg kg^‑1, which was much lower than the national standard value. The results indicate that kiwifruit is a low-Cd-accumulation tree species. Hence, if the soil Cd content is lower than 4.900 mg kg^‑1, the tested kiwifruit cultivars could be used as the best cultivars for cultivated land restoration and planting structure adjustment in Cd-contaminated areas.