Table 3.

Effect of calcium (Ca) and potassium (K) alone and in combination on the contents of chlorophyll (Chl) (mg g⁻¹ FW), proline (μg g⁻¹ FW), protein (mg g⁻¹ FW), total phenols (mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE) g⁻¹extract) and flavonoids content (mg Catechin g⁻¹extract) in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) leaves under normal and cadmium (Cd) stress conditions.

Traits	Treatments
	C	C + Ca	C + K	C + Ca + K	Cd	Cd + Ca	Cd + K	Cd + Ca + K
Chl a	1.52 ± 0.65c	1.75 ± 0.72b	1.63 ± 0.69b	1.94 ± 0.77a	0.79 ± 0.09g	0.96 ± 0.15e	0.87 ± 0.10f	1.14 ± 0.23d
Chl b	0.43 ± 0.06c	0.51 ± 0.07b	0.48 ± 0.07b	0.79 ± 0.12a	0.23 ± 0.02e	0.31 ± 0.03d	0.29 ± 0.03d	0.39 ± 0.05d
Total Chl	1.95 ± 0.75d	2.26 ± 0.88b	2.11 ± 0.81c	2.73 ± 0.99a	1.02 ± 0.17h	1.27 ± 0.28f	1.16 ± 0.25g	1.53 ± 0.66e
Carotenoids	0.39 ± 0.01e	0.45 ± 0.04d	0.41 ± 0.04d	0.49 ± 0.05d	0.53 ± 0.12c	0.69 ± 0.19b	0.57 ± 0.16b	0.77 ± 0.21a
Proline	27.10 ± 1.31g	32.71 ± 1.52f	30.11 ± 1.48f	38.32 ± 1.66e	135.96 ± 3.21d	150.96 ± 3.96b	146.32 ± 3.75c	178.10 ± 3.42a
Protein	18.31 ± 1.15h	24.41 ± 1.35f	21.70 ± 1.30g	29.43 ± 1.44e	37.71 ± 1.65d	48.37 ± 1.72b	44.53 ± 1.68c	57.91 ± 1.83a
Total phenols	4.85 ± 0.56ab	4.93 ± 0.58a	4.92 ± 0.58a	4.99 ± 0.61a	3.01 ± 0.25e	3.76 ± 0.34d	3.64 ± 0.31d	3.92 ± 0.42c
Flavonoids	7.52 ± 0.78c	7.65 ± 0.84b	7.77 ± 0.88b	7.89 ± 0.97a	4.12 ± 0.48f	4.93 ± 0.59e	4.87 ± 0.57e	5.23 ± 0.67d

Data presented are the means ± standard error (SE) of five independent replications (n = 5). Different letters indicate significant difference (P ≤ 0.05) among the treatments. FW, fresh weight.