Changes in the chemical composition of plants subjected to stress from BHC treated soil.

Chemical composition of young vegetable plants
changed to varying extent when they were grown
under stress conditions derived from soil residues of
BHC (single stress). Number of alterations was
maximum in amaranthus. This plant contained less
of carbohydrate. nitrogen and phosphorus but more
of iron. When the insecticide degradation in soil
was accelerated through microbial enrichment (dual
stress), generally a positive influence on chemical
composition was noticed. Response of different
plants to the stresses differed regardless of their
taxonomic position. In chili plant wbile the exact
mechanism to deal with BHC is not known it is
indicated to be associated with calcium. Except iron
deficiency in coriander seeds, otber vegetables harves·
ted from soil containing both BHC and enriched
micro·organisms capable of degrading tbis chemical
were not deficient in any of the nutrients examined.