Objective: To reveal the property of Jatropha curcas, to retain itself under the heavy metal stress of high concentration of fly ash through the increase in proline content in plants.Methods: A pot culture experiment was conducted to investigate growth performance, biochemical and physiological responses of the Jatropha curcas (n=15) in fly ash amended the soil. The present study was performed as an attempt to determine the growth performance of Jatropha curcas using various concentrations of fly ash and soil [100% soil (T1), 25% fly ash+75% soil (T2), 50% fly ash+50% soil (T3) and 75% fly ash+25% soil (T4) and 100% fly ash (T5)]. The elemental composition (Zn, Ca, Mg, Pb, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Cd) was studied by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer in base material at the beginning and at the end of the study. The three years response was reported and observed that the proline content in Jatropha curcas leaves increased as the fly ash concentration increased (as proline is a stress protein which is formed according to the defensive capability of plants).Results: After three years of complete plant growth the elemental (heavy metals) uptake increased with respect to the availability. The overall proline content increased as 2.48 µg/ml, 3.97 µg/ml, 4.78 µg/ml, 5.25 µg/ml and 5.60 µg/ml in T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively. After evaluating the correlation between heavy metal uptake and proline content, all the results showed positive significance at 0.05% and 0.01% significance level.Conclusion: According to the results it has been proved that when heavy metal uptake by Jatropha curcas increases through fly ash, the proline content increases according to its capability to defence itself in stress conditions. This research motivated to waste utilization, sustainable development, and environment protection.Keywords: Soil, Fly ash, Jatropha curcas, Proline, Growth performanc
