A Study on Cadmium Phytoremediation Potential of Indian Mustard, Brassica juncea

The objective of this study was to investigate Cd phytoremediation ability of Indian mustard, Brassica juncea. The study was conducted with 25, 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg Kg(-1) CdCl2 in laboratory for 21 days and Cd concentrations in the root, shoot and leaf tissues were estimated by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The plant showed high Cd tolerance of up to 400 mg Kg(-1) but there was a general trend of decline in the root and shoot length, tissue biomass, leaf chlorophyll and carotenoid contents. The tolerance index (TI) of plants were calculated taking both root and shoot lengths as variables. The maximum tolerance (TI shoot=87.4 % and TI root=89.6%) to Cd toxicity was observed at 25 mg Kg(-1), which progressively decreased with increase in dose. The highest shoot (10791 μg g(-1) dry wt) and root (9602 μg g(-1) dry wt) Cd accumulation was achieved at 200 mg kg(-1) Cd treatment and the maximum leaf Cd accumulation was 10071.6 μg g(-1) dry wt achieved at 100 mg Kg(-1) Cd, after 21 days of treatment. The enrichment coefficient and root to shoot translocation factor were calculated, which, pointed towards the suitability of Indian mustard for removing Cd from soil.