Cadmium (Cd) Removal from Saline <i>Water by Veronica anagallis</i> and <i>Epilobium laxum</i> Plants in Hydroponic System

Abstract

Present study was conducted to investigate the Cadmium (Cd) phytoextraction potential of two plants ( Veronica anagallis-aquatic and Epilobium laxum Royle ) for Cd removal from induced saline water. In hydroponic system, various concentrations of the Cd (50, 100, and 150 ppm) and NaCl salt (1000, 3000, and 6000 ppm) were used alone and in various combinations to evaluate the effect of salt (NaCl) concentrations on Cd absorption and accumulation in Veronica anagallis and Epilobium plants. The Cd at higher concentrations (100 and 150 ppm) significantly reduced the growth and biomass of both plants and addition of salt (NaCl) to growth media (Hoagland solution) further reduced the growth. The Cadmium (Cd) translocation factor (TF) of Epilobium plant was more than one (1), while the Veronica plant showed translocation factor less than 0.5. Veronica plant showed higher Bio-concentration factor (BCF) as more than 3.5 and Epilobium plant demonstrated Bio-concentration f actor less than 1 (BCF 1 is a threshold limit for a plant to be hyper-accumulator of Cd). Conclusively, the Veronica anagallis plant is reported as Cd hyper-accumulator, while Epilobium laxum plant as non hyper-accumulator on the basis of BCF values in the present findings. Further study on Veronica and Epilobium plants is recommended.