Uptake of Heavy Metals from Industrial Wastewater Using In Vitro Plant Cultures

The plant species Bacopa monnieri has been observed to reduce the heavy metal concentrations in its vicinity. The present study is a comparison of in vitro culture and soil-grown plants of B. monnieri to remove Cr and Cd, from synthetic solution and effluent obtained from industrial area. Results were obtained at every half hour interval upto 180 min. Samples were observed for light absorption using UV-Visible spectrophotometer. Statistically, both systems reclaimed Cr and Cd from polluted water. In vitro cultures showed 67% and 93% removal of Cr and Cd from industrial wastewater whereas soil-grown plants showed 64% and 83% Cr and Cd removal. However, reduction rate was significantly higher for in vitro culture as compared to soil-grown plants. Besides other advantages, in vitro plant cultures proved to be more potent to detoxify pollutants in less time. This approach can be used for the removal of heavy metals at large scale.