Bioaccumulation and biochemical responses of Vetiveria zizanioides grown under Cadmium and Copper stresses

Abstract

Pot experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of Copper (Cu) and Cadmium (Cd) on Vetiveria zizanioides. Results revealed that increasing metal concentration in growing medium caused reduction in dry biomass, water content, leaf chlorophyll and soluble protein on exposure of Cu and Cd for 30 days. Cu and Cd accumulation in root and shoot enhanced on increasing Cu and Cd concentration in soil and reached a maximum of 514 and 1069 mg kg −1 dry weight (DW) in root and 58.03 and 17.87 mg kg −1 DW in shoot at exposure of 150 and 75 mg kg −1 of Cu and Cd respectively. Results also showed that the exposure of Cu and Cd in combination was more phytotoxic than the individual treatments. However, Bioconcentraion Factor (BCF) was found to be greater than one indicating suitability of V. zizanioides for phytoremdiation of Cu and Cd from soil. Metal accumulation in roots was much higher than shoots (TF ≪ 1) indicating that the mechanism involved was of phytoextraction.

Plantas medicinais e metais pesados: uma revisão bibliométrica

“…É evidente que há uma necessidade urgente de se implementar um programa regular de monitoramento e teste da qualidade das ervas locais e importadas vendidas no mercado. A conscientização entre fornecedores e consumidores deve ser disseminada para evitar a coleta de plantas medicinais perto de locais contaminados, para prevenir riscos à saúde associados ao seu consumo (Kumar et al, 2018). Técnicas químicas analíticas sensíveis em combinação com regulamentos de limites apropriados, fixados por lei, reduzirão drasticamente contaminações com metais pesados, e ainda, o público em geral precisa ser mais bem informado de que a fitoterapia nem sempre é inofensiva .…”