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Comparing the Efficiency of Sunflower, Marigold and Spinach Plants for Their Phytoextraction Ability of Zinc and Copper in Contaminated Soil

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Abstract

Phytoextraction is a cost-effective technique to remediate contaminated soil. The efficiency of the phytoextraction process is limited by the slow growth, small biomass production of hyper-accumulator plants, and lower phytoavailability of contaminants in soil. The study is focused on comparing the efficiency of the three reported accumulator plants for phytoextraction of zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) from contaminated soil and their effect on the bioavailability/toxicity of the elements after harvest. In a pot experiment, sunflower, marigold, and spinach were grown in Zn and Cu-contaminated soil. After harvest, the effect of phytoextraction on the distribution of Zn and Cu in various soil-solid phases was studied through a fractionation study as an indicator of bioavailability. The efficiency of phytoextraction was compared in terms of the metal uptake ability of the plants. The highest biomass yield of accumulator plants was obtained with marigold (30.1 g pot−1), followed by sunflower (16.3 g pot−1) and spinach (7.75 g pot−1). The concentrations of Zn and Cu in the three plants ranged from 58.0 to 222 mg kg−1 and 6.33 to 13.3 mg kg−1, respectively. In both the cases of Zn and Cu, sunflower was found superior to the other two plants in terms of phytoextraction of the metals from the contaminated soil. A fractionation study showed that in sunflower and marigold-grown soil, the carbonate bound fraction of Zn enriched water-soluble and exchangeable fraction of Zn, while in spinach-grown soil, the dissolved carbonate bound fraction of Zn enriched the organically bound fraction. Thus, it can be inferred that sunflowers and marigolds increased the bioavailability and toxicity of Zn and Cu more than that of spinach.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support and infrastructure facility from Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi is duly acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

    Saubhagya Kumar Samal, Siba Prasad Datta, Debasis Golui, Md Basit Raza & Mahesh Chand Meena

  2. ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, India

    Siba Prasad Datta

  3. Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA

    Debasis Golui

  4. ICAR-Directorate of Floricultural Research, Pune, Maharashtra, India

    Md Basit Raza

  5. Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board, Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi, India

    Brahma Swaroop Dwivedi

  6. National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning Regional Centre, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

    Mahaveer Nogiya

  7. ICAR- Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India

    Mahipal Choudhary

  8. Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Pusa, Bihar, India

    Punyavrat S. Pandey

  9. ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, RC, Sunabeda, Koraput, Odisha, 763002, India

    Saubhagya Kumar Samal

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  1. Saubhagya Kumar Samal
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  2. Siba Prasad Datta
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Contributions

SKS: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation, Formal analysis, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Investigation. SPD: Supervision, Resources, Validation, Writing—review and editing. DG: Methodology, Data curation, Writing—review and editing. BSD: Visualization, Formal analysis and editing. MCM: Data curation, Formal analysis and editing. MN: Review and editing. MC: Review and editing. MBR: Review and editing.

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Correspondence to Siba Prasad Datta.

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Samal, S.K., Datta, S.P., Golui, D. et al. Comparing the Efficiency of Sunflower, Marigold and Spinach Plants for Their Phytoextraction Ability of Zinc and Copper in Contaminated Soil. Agric Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-024-00713-x

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