Phytoextraction capacity of Pelargonium graveolens L’Hér. grown on soil amended with tannery sludge – Its effect on the antioxidant activity and oil yield

• The study deals with the changes in antioxidant activity of plant and metal uptake when grown on tannery sludge treated soil.
• Proline and melondialdehyde content was increased at all concentration of tannery sludge treated soil.
• Superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase activity decreased at 100% tannery sludge.
• At 50:50 ratio of sludge and soil, metal translocation factor was more than 0.7 for Cr, Cd, Co and Pb and more than 1 for Ni.
• No detectable amount of metal was found in oil of Pelargonium graveolens L’Hér.

The metal accumulation potential of Pelargonium graveolens L’Hér. grown with various amendments of heavy metal (HM) rich tannery sludge (TS) was studied. Root accumulated more metals followed by leaves and stem. At 50:50 ratio of TS and soil, translocation factor (TF) for Cd, Co, Ni, Pb and Cr were 0.77, 0.74, 1.09, 0.81 and 0.70, respectively. Chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid content and biomass of plant were high at 50:50 ratio of sludge and soil. Maximum oil content was observed at the same ratio of sludge and soil. No detectable amount of metal was found in the oil of P. graveolens. Citronellol, geraniol (C/G) ratio was close to 1 at 50:50 ratio of TS and soil, which is considered to be the best oil quality and most preferred by the industries. HMs present in TS increased oxidative stress in plant resulting in increased level of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), proline and melondialdehyde (MDA) at all ratios of TS and soil as compared to control. At 100% TS without soil antioxidant activity decreased which indicated that high concentration of HMs impaired the oxygen scavenging function. Translocation factor emphasized that 50:50 ratio of TS and soil were suitable for extraction of various metals without affecting the oil yield of P. graveolens. So, this plant can be suggested as a good candidate to be grown in metal polluted soil vis-à-vis for phytostabilization of metals.

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