ABSTRACT
Phytoremediation is an emerging green technology for the management of contaminated soils. Plants that are hyper accumulators are used for in situ removal, degradation or decontamination of pollutant elements. The tolerance of heavy metals is the plant characteristic required for hyper accumulation. Different chelating agents such as Ethylenediamine Tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) facilitate metal uptake by plants growing in contaminated soil. In the present study, a screen house experiment was conducted to evaluate the phytoremediation potential of three Brassica species viz. B. juncea L., B. campestris L. and B. napus L. for the removal of cadmium (Cd) from soils. The experiment was conducted on sandy loam soil in 216 pots with Cd applied @ 0, 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg kg−1 soil and EDTA applied @ 0, 1, and 2 g kg−1 soil for 45 days. It was observed that, dry weight yield of shoot in all the three species decreased significantly with combined application of Cd and EDTA. Cd concentration was higher in case of B. campestris followed by B. napus and B. juncea, respectively. Among three species, B. juncea showed highest Cd uptake due to high biomass yield, whereas B. napus showed the lowest Cd uptake.
Research Highlights
Investigated phytoremediation of Cd from soils using three Brassica species.
Pot-based experiments were conducted using varying contents of EDTA and Cd.
Because of interactive effects, combined application of Cd and EDTA decreased dry weight yield of shoots.
Among three Brassica species. B. juncea showed highest Cd uptake, while B. napus showed the lowest.
Acknowledgments
We are thankful to Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi for providing financial assistance in the form of projects.
Disclosure statement
All the authors display no financial or any other conflict of interest.