Zinc (Zn) is an essential element required for growth and development of plants. However, Zn can be toxic to plants when it presents excessive amount. Phytoextraction is an economic and environment-friendly technique using plants to clean-up metal-contaminated soils. However, the technique cannot be applied in highly metal-contaminated areas because plants will not normally grow in such conditions. Therefore, this research focuses on identifying chelating agents which are biodegradable and applicable to highly metalcontaminated areas. Zn as a target metal and cysteine (Cys), histidine (His), malate, citrate oxalate, succinate, and ethylenediamine (EDA) as biodegradable chelating agents were selected. Plants were grown on agar media containing various chelating agents with Zn to analyze the effect on plant growth. Malate and His slightly increased the inhibitory effect of Zn on root growth of plants, whereas Cys, citrate, oxalate, and succinate did not show significant effects. However, EDA strongly diminished the inhibitory effect of Zn on root growth. The effect of EDA is correlated with decreased Zn uptake into the plants. In conclusion, as biodegradable chelating agents, EDA is a good candidate for growth of plants in highly Zn-contaminated areas.