Integrated micro-biochemical approach for phytoremediation of cadmium and zinc contaminated soils

•Co-inoculation of AMF and P. putida significantly enhanced phytoremediation.•Integration of oilcake manure, S0, AMF and P. putida is feasible for phytoremediation.•The integrated micro-biochemical approach leads to enhanced uptake of heavy metals.

The integrated potential of oilcake manure (OM), elemental sulphur (S0), Glomus fasciculatum and Pseudomonas putida by growing Helianthus annuus L for phytoremediation of cadmium and zinc contaminated soils was investigated under pot experiment. The integrated treatment (2.5 g kg−1 OM, 0.8 g kg−1S0 and co-inoculation with G. fasciculatum and P. putida promoted the dry biomass of the plant. The treatment was feasible for enhanced cadmium accumulation up to 6.56 and 5.25 mg kg−1 and zinc accumulation up to 45.46 and 32.56 mg kg−1 in root and shoot, respectively, which caused maximum remediation efficiency (0.73 percent and 0.25 percent) and bioaccumulation factor (2.39 and 0.83) for Cd and Zn, respectively showing feasible uptake (in mg kg−1 dry biomass) of Cd (5.55) and Zn (35.51) at the contaminated site. Thus, authors conclude to integrate oilcake manure, S0 and microbial co-inoculation for enhanced clean-up of cadmium and zinc-contaminated soils.