Toxic effects of wastewater from various phases of monosodium glutamate production on seed germination and root elongation of crops

To make a comprehensive assessment on monosodium glutamate (MSG) wastewater pollution, a pollution exposure experiment was carried out on the seed germination and root elongation of wheat, Chinese cabbage and tomato by using the wastewater discharged from different processing phases of MSG production. The results showed that there were significantly positive linear relationships between the inhibitory rates of wheat seed germination and root elongation and the CODcr of the mother liquor scraps. The toxicity of MSG wastewater to the test crops was in the order of tomato > Chinese cabbage > wheat, indicating that tomato was the most sensitive to the wastewater, and could be considered as an ideal toxic bioindicator. The half-effect concentrations (IC50) based on the seed germination and root elongation of the test crops exposed to the wastewater discharged from various processing phases of MSG production was 22.0–32 432 and 17.3–3320 mg/L, respectively.