Phytoremediating a Wastewater-Irrigated Soil Contaminated with Toxic Metals: Comparing the Efficacies of Different Crops
A formidable challenge in suburban agriculture is the sustainability of soil health following the use of wastewater for irrigation. The wastewater irrigation likely toxifies the crop plants making them unconsumable. We used a multivariate, completely randomized design in a greenhouse, comparing the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Soil Systems |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8789/6/4/77 |
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| author | Iftikhar Ahmad Saeed Ahmad Malik Shafqat Saeed Atta-ur Rehman Tariq Muhammad Munir |
| author_facet | Iftikhar Ahmad Saeed Ahmad Malik Shafqat Saeed Atta-ur Rehman Tariq Muhammad Munir |
| author_sort | Iftikhar Ahmad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A formidable challenge in suburban agriculture is the sustainability of soil health following the use of wastewater for irrigation. The wastewater irrigation likely toxifies the crop plants making them unconsumable. We used a multivariate, completely randomized design in a greenhouse, comparing the phytoextraction capacities of <i>Brassica juncea</i>, <i>Eruca sativa</i>, <i>Brassica rapa,</i> and <i>Brassica napus</i>—all grown on silt loam soil irrigated with industrial wastewater, canal water, and a 1:1 mixture, during 2018. The studied <i>Brassica</i> plants were generally closely efficient in remediating toxic metals found in wastewater irrigated soil. Substantial differences between <i>Brassica</i> and <i>Eruca</i> plants/parts were recorded. For example, <i>B. napus</i> had significantly higher metal extraction or accumulation compared to <i>E. sativa</i> for Zn (71%), Cu (69%), Fe (78%), Mn (79%), Cd (101%), Cr (57%), Ni (92%). and Pb (49%). While the water and plant were the main predictors of metal extraction or accumulation, an interaction between the main effects substantially contributed to Cu, Mn, and Fe extractions from soil and accumulations in plants. Significant correlations between biological accumulation coefficient and biological transfer coefficient for many metals further supported the metal extraction or accumulation efficiencies as: <i>B. napus</i> > <i>B. juncea</i> > <i>B. rapa</i> > <i>E. sativa</i>. Root-stem mobility index correlation with stem-leaf mobility index indicated the metal translocation along the root-stem-leaf continuum. Therefore, we suggest that these crops may not be used for human or animal consumption when grown with industrial wastewater of toxic metal concentrations ≥ permissible limits. Rather these plants may serve as effective remediators of toxic metal-polluted soil. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:50:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-244b9829aad64325bfd9e1455f1d67c7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-8789 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:50:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Soil Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-244b9829aad64325bfd9e1455f1d67c72023-11-24T18:03:11ZengMDPI AGSoil Systems2571-87892022-10-01647710.3390/soilsystems6040077Phytoremediating a Wastewater-Irrigated Soil Contaminated with Toxic Metals: Comparing the Efficacies of Different CropsIftikhar Ahmad0Saeed Ahmad Malik1Shafqat Saeed2Atta-ur Rehman3Tariq Muhammad Munir4Department of Botany, Institute of Pure and Applied Biology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, PakistanDepartment of Botany, Institute of Pure and Applied Biology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, PakistanDepartment of Entomology, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture, Multan 66000, PakistanSoil and Water Testing Laboratory, Vehari, Multan 61100, PakistanDepartment of Geography and Planning, Global Institute for Water Security, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5C8, CanadaA formidable challenge in suburban agriculture is the sustainability of soil health following the use of wastewater for irrigation. The wastewater irrigation likely toxifies the crop plants making them unconsumable. We used a multivariate, completely randomized design in a greenhouse, comparing the phytoextraction capacities of <i>Brassica juncea</i>, <i>Eruca sativa</i>, <i>Brassica rapa,</i> and <i>Brassica napus</i>—all grown on silt loam soil irrigated with industrial wastewater, canal water, and a 1:1 mixture, during 2018. The studied <i>Brassica</i> plants were generally closely efficient in remediating toxic metals found in wastewater irrigated soil. Substantial differences between <i>Brassica</i> and <i>Eruca</i> plants/parts were recorded. For example, <i>B. napus</i> had significantly higher metal extraction or accumulation compared to <i>E. sativa</i> for Zn (71%), Cu (69%), Fe (78%), Mn (79%), Cd (101%), Cr (57%), Ni (92%). and Pb (49%). While the water and plant were the main predictors of metal extraction or accumulation, an interaction between the main effects substantially contributed to Cu, Mn, and Fe extractions from soil and accumulations in plants. Significant correlations between biological accumulation coefficient and biological transfer coefficient for many metals further supported the metal extraction or accumulation efficiencies as: <i>B. napus</i> > <i>B. juncea</i> > <i>B. rapa</i> > <i>E. sativa</i>. Root-stem mobility index correlation with stem-leaf mobility index indicated the metal translocation along the root-stem-leaf continuum. Therefore, we suggest that these crops may not be used for human or animal consumption when grown with industrial wastewater of toxic metal concentrations ≥ permissible limits. Rather these plants may serve as effective remediators of toxic metal-polluted soil.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8789/6/4/77<i>Brassica</i>canolacauliflowerheavy metalphytoremediationpollution |
| spellingShingle | Iftikhar Ahmad Saeed Ahmad Malik Shafqat Saeed Atta-ur Rehman Tariq Muhammad Munir Phytoremediating a Wastewater-Irrigated Soil Contaminated with Toxic Metals: Comparing the Efficacies of Different Crops Soil Systems <i>Brassica</i> canola cauliflower heavy metal phytoremediation pollution |
| title | Phytoremediating a Wastewater-Irrigated Soil Contaminated with Toxic Metals: Comparing the Efficacies of Different Crops |
| title_full | Phytoremediating a Wastewater-Irrigated Soil Contaminated with Toxic Metals: Comparing the Efficacies of Different Crops |
| title_fullStr | Phytoremediating a Wastewater-Irrigated Soil Contaminated with Toxic Metals: Comparing the Efficacies of Different Crops |
| title_full_unstemmed | Phytoremediating a Wastewater-Irrigated Soil Contaminated with Toxic Metals: Comparing the Efficacies of Different Crops |
| title_short | Phytoremediating a Wastewater-Irrigated Soil Contaminated with Toxic Metals: Comparing the Efficacies of Different Crops |
| title_sort | phytoremediating a wastewater irrigated soil contaminated with toxic metals comparing the efficacies of different crops |
| topic | <i>Brassica</i> canola cauliflower heavy metal phytoremediation pollution |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-8789/6/4/77 |
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