<跨风格= "字体类型:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Chromium is a reactive and toxic heavy metal that enters the soil through various anthropogenic activities and moves through food chain affecting adversely the higher trophic levels including humans. While engineering techniques to remediate metal contaminated sites are costly and energy intensive, phytoremediation with suitable plant species is a low cost, easy and eco-friendly technique, which uses solar energy in the process. Using suitable non-edible plants makes the process of remediation safe and sustainable. The present study was therefore, carried out to study growth, Cr tolerance and phytoremediation potential of three ornamental plant species Sansevieria trifasciata, Canna indica (L) and Nephrolepis exaltata (L) for removal of chromium from soil. Pot culture experiments were conducted in greenhouse using soils artificially spiked with chromium (Cr250, Cr500, Cr750 mg/kg soil). Tolerance to different concentrations of Cr varied with the plant species as reflected by the trends and magnitude of change in aboveground and belowground biomass. Leaf chlorophyll and carotenoid were quite tolerant at Cr250 for all the species, and up to Cr500 for Sansevieria. The antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) showed elevated activity in aboveground parts at Cr250, while catalase (CAT) activity declined in response to the metal. All the three species showed significant accumulation of Cr, and more so in the belowground parts. Total Cr phytoextraction was the highest in N. exaltata, followed by C. indica and S. trifasciata. In all the three species, bioconcentration factor (BCF) was >1, indicating the suitability of these species for phytoremediation of chromium contaminated soils.
