Biological removal of cadmium from soil by phytoremediation and its impact on growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments, phenol and malondealdehyde content in Vetiveria zizianoides.

Abstract

Phytoremediation is one of the most widely used methods for removing soil contaminants. In this research, the function of <em>Vetiveria zizianoides</em> to remove cadmium from four different treatments with varying amounts of cadmium chloride contamination (including 0, 20, 40, and 60 mg per liter) was investigated and physiological changes caused by the accumulation of this metal in the plant were monitored. According to the obtained results, cadmium accumulation in roots was higher as compared to the shoots. Based on factors such as the amount of biomass and the length of organs, the growth rate was reduced in plants accumulating more cadmium. Our findings also showed that increased concentrations of cadmium chloride in the experimental units caused a significant reduction of photosynthetic pigments compared to control. However, phenolic compounds and malondialdehyde showed a significant increase with increasing concentrations of cadmium chloride. In addition, the cadmium uptake by the plant was increased with increasing concentration of cadmium chloride. Our results clearly showed the high capability of <em>Vetiveria zizianoides</em> for biological removal of cadmium from contaminated soil.