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Heavy metals are one of the important environmental pollutants and their toxicity is a great concern for plant growth. Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal ion that is accumulated in the soil as a consequence of human activities. Plants own strategies to control the concentration of metal ions inside the cell to minimize the possible harm that could cause by being subjected to nonessential metal ions. However, the accumulation of cadmium concentration in the plant cells led to frail its resistance. In this study, grains of barley (Hordeum vulgare) were exposed to two Cd concentrations (150 and 300 ppm) against untreated control. Cadmium treatment caused a reduction in plant length at the highest level of Cd (300 ppm). The inhibition of chlorophyll content due to indirect Cd effects on the content of essential nutrients and osmoprotectants, including soluble sugars (SS), soluble proteins (SP), total free amino acids (TAA) and higher accumulation in proline contents. Excessive cadmium accumulation increased malondialdehyde (MDA) level in shoot and root systems disrupting the cell membrane. Data of the present study indicated that the usage of banana compost as a biofertilizer alleviated the drastic effect of cadmium stress in barley plants as it promoted growth performance, enhanced photosynthetic pigments, SS, SP, TAA and reduced proline. Banana compost balanced the absorption and translocation of mineral homeostasis from roots to shoots. Results indicated also that compost supplementation reduced lipid peroxidation. Our results may help shed light

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