• heavy metals
• treated wastewater
• irrigation
• physiological response
• Fragaria vesca L.
• Glufosinate ammonium
• herbicide
• Cadmium
• hydroponic system
• chlorophyll a+b
• fluorescence of chlorophyll a
• gas exchanges analysis
• mineral elements analysis
• total polyphenols
• brix index
• ethylene production

In the last few years geographical and temporal distribution of precipitation has been
changing and the climate has become increasingly dry and arid. This means that the world can’t rely only on precipitation for agricultural production and irrigation strategies will become more relevant. Wastewater could be used for irrigation, but it
may contain emerging contaminants (inorganic and organic) affecting food quality and safety. Among them, heavy metals like cadmium and herbicides such as glufosinate ammonium are contaminants that can cause toxic effects in plants as well
as in humans.
As concern cadmium effect, it inhibits plant development and leads to oxidative damage caused by overproduction of reactive oxygen species. Glufosinate ammonium is a non-selective herbicide that irreversibly inhibits glutamine synthetase, blocking ammonium assimilation. This herbicide could disrupt both photorespiration and the light reactions of photosynthesis, generating reactive oxygen species.
According to FAOSTAT data, the major world producer of strawberry in 2019 was China. Italy was in thirteenth place and represented the 2.5% of Italian fruit and vegetable production. Woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.) is ever-bearing, small-fruited strawberry. This plant is perennial and belongs to the family of Rosaceae. Flowers and fruits are often simultaneously present during the summer. From a biological point of view, the edible part is a false fruit: the real fruits are the achenes.
The aim of this thesis was to study the physiological responses induced by the uptake
and translocation of cadmium and glufosinate ammonium in strawberry (Fragaria vesca L. cv. Annabelle) plants. The plants were cultivated in hydroponic system under control condition (photoperiod of 16h/8h -day/night, temperature 23°C/18°C -day/night and UR % of 55/75 % - day/night). The experimental was setup in a completely randomized design. Plants were treated with control (modified Hoagland solution), cadmium (modified Hoagland solution and 1 mg L-1 Cd), glufosinate ammonium (modified Hoagland solution and 10 µg L-1 glufosinate ammonium) and the mix of glufosinate ammonium and cadmium. Plants were treated for 28 days, and 4 treatments were renovated every three days. The leaves and strawberries sampling and ethylene measurement were performed on day 14 and 28. At the end of 28 days, also roots were collected. The evaluation of cadmium concentration was measured using the Agilent 4210 MP-AES and the estimation of glufosinate concentration was performed using the SCIEX Triple Quad™ 5500+ System – QTRAP® Ready. Physiological measurements were evaluated every four days using fluorimeter and CIRAS. Total polyphenols, brix index and ethylene production were investigated after two and four weeks of the experiment.
After 28 day of treatments plants treated with glufosinate ammonium showed significant chlorosis symptoms and data of chlorophyll a+b confirmed this observation (-34% compared to control). Gas exchange analyses, photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance were not significantly affected by the interaction between the treatments but a significant effect of Cd exposure has been observed started from day 18. The strawberry number during two sampling time did not change and the same applied to the total plant biomass at the end of experiments. Glufosinate reduced the weight of strawberry of 27% compared to control in the first sampling, while the Cd effect on the second sampling reduced the strawberry weight of 50%. Cd affected Brix strawberry (P=0.0196) while total polyphenols and ethylene production of strawberries did not change during the experiment.
Cadmium uptake followed the order: roots>leaves> strawberries. In roots, Cd and glufosinate + Cd treated plants had similar Cd concentration, leading to the hypothesis that Cd entered in the plant in the same way. Only in the first sampling of the leaves the interaction between Cd and glufosinate was significative (P=0.038) and Cd was concentrated more under glufosinate + Cd treatment (+68% compared to Cd exposure). As regards the first and second sampling of the strawberries there was no significant differences among the four treatments but in both sampling the Cd effect has been detected (P=0.002 and P<0.0001, for I and II sampling time, respectively). The Tf values calculated at leaves and strawberries levels were below 1. Preliminary results showed that glufosinate ammonium plants has been accumulated significantly in strawberry after 14 days of exposure.