Abstract
Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an important oil seed crop that is mostly cultivated in temperate climates. In addition to many commercial applications, flax is also used as a fibrous species or for livestock feed (animal fodder). For the last 40 years, flax has been used as a phytoremediation tool for the remediation of different heavy metals, particularly for phytoextraction when cultivated on metal contaminated soils. Among different fibrous crops (hemp, jute, ramie, and kenaf), flax represents the most economically important species and the majority of studies on metal contaminated soil for the phytoextraction of heavy metals have been conducted using flax. Therefore, a comprehensive review is needed for a better understanding of the phytoremediation potential of flax when grown in metal contaminated soil. This review describes the existing studies related to the phytoremediation potential of flax in different mediums such as soil and water. After phytoremediation, flax has the potential to be used for additional purposes such as linseed oil, fiber, and important livestock feed. This review also describes the phytoremediation potential of flax when grown in metal contaminated soil. Furthermore, techniques and methods to increase plant growth and biomass are also discussed in this work. However, future research is needed for a better understanding of the physiology, biochemistry, anatomy, and molecular biology of flax for increasing its pollutant removal efficiency.
Highlights
Most heavy metals are produced by pollution and their presence causes many ecological, evolutionary, and nutritional problems
Phytoremediation is a technology which is widely applicable for metal contaminated areas, with some long-term aesthetic merits and it is famous due to its low cost and eco-friendly nature, so it is used on large scale areas with high contents of heavy metals due to some industry or mining activities
Studies are required in the future to explore more improvements to the phytoremediation efficiency of flax
Summary
Most heavy metals are produced by pollution and their presence causes many ecological, evolutionary, and nutritional problems. One of the most effective, cheap, and environmental-friendly methods used for the removal of toxic substances which accumulate in the different parts of the plants, like in roots, leaves, branches, and stems, is known as phytoremediation [28] This method is used for the reduction of the metal content of soil, the assembly of very large amounts of toxic metal contents through repeating harvesting, and the cycling of planting of the plant species [29,30]. Phytoremediation is a technology which is widely applicable for metal contaminated areas, with some long-term aesthetic merits and it is famous due to its low cost and eco-friendly nature, so it is used on large scale areas with high contents of heavy metals due to some industry or mining activities Another method for the removal of toxic substances like heavy metals is “hyper accumulation,”.
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