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high pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications in Ayurvedic, Tibetan medications due to

the existence of diosgenin, has significant role in plant stress management (Jasim et al., 2017;
Aasim et al., 2018).

The current study investigates the impact of different doses of cadmium on phenotypic and
yield attributes of Trigonella and illustrating the adaptation to metal stress.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Experimental work:
Viable and vigorous seeds of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. were pre-soaked in water for 12

hours followed by treatment with different concentrations of cadmium (Cd) viz., 20, 40, 60,
80 and 100ppm for 8 hours at room temperature 25±2°C prepared in phosphate buffer (pH

6.7) with constant intermittent stirring. One set of soaked seeds were kept as control

(untreated). The seeds treated with mutagen were washed with running tap water 2-3 times
for the elimination of residual cadmium adhering to the seed surface. Treated seed sets were

sown in earthen pots to raise the M1 generation and the quantitative and qualitative attributes
were observed from both control and treated populations.

Seed germination, plant survival and pollen fertility
The percentage of seed germination, plant survival and pollen fertility of treated and

untreated M1 population was determined by the following formulae:

Germination (%) =

Survival (%) =

Pollen fertility (%) = ×100

Chlorophyll and carotenoid contents
The pigment content can be determined by the Mackinney method, fresh leaves (1g) was

grounded in 20ml acetone followed by centrifugation at 5000rpm for 5 minutes. The
supernatant obtained was made up to 100ml final volume. The absorbance was measured at

645nm and 663nm for chlorophyll content and 480nm and 510nm for carotenoid content. The

pigment content in the leaf extract can be calculated by using the following formulae:
Total chlorophyll content = [20.2 ( 645) + 8.02 ( 663)]

Carotenoid content = [7.6 ( 480) −1.49 ( 510)]

Wherever,

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