Towards a Cleaner Yamuna: Evaluating Phytoremediation Efficacy of Lemon Grass, Indian Mustard, and Spinach

Abstract

The Yamuna, one of the major rivers of India, is almost dying because of substantial pollution due to industrial effluents, agricultural runoff, and domestic waste. This study examines and compares the potential of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), Indian mustard (Brassica juncea), and Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) in phytoremediation to mitigate the river's contamination by heavy metal. Pot experiment was conducted for the three plants, with four replicates to know the efficiency of these plants. Control experiment was also conducted for comparative study for these three plants. Statistical Analysis was done by one-way Anova. For the Analysis, p<0.05 was considered significant. Pot experiments were conducted to evaluated the efficiency of these three plants in absorbing heavy metals such as Lead (Pb), Chromium (Cr), Cadmium (Cd), Iron (Fe) Nikil (Ni) and Zinc (Zn)from the contaminated river. The results confirmed significant reductions in contaminant concentrations, spinach can accumulate Cr, Pb, Zn, and Ni over the course of several seasons, but Indian mustard is a plant that is a hyperaccumulator of zinc. For both sites, mustard exhibits a strong uptake for metal but a lower shoot movement for Cd. Particularly for Fe, Cr, and Cd, bioavailability is greatly decreased by seasonal runoff and monsoonal fluctuations. These results imply that each plant species has unique phytoremediation strengths and that the target metal can determine how best to apply them for environmental cleanup. The implications of these findings advocate for the broader application of phytoremediation in similar environmental contexts worldwide.