Interaction of Some Heavy Metals with Copper Content in Dock Plant

Abstract

In this study, interaction of some heavy metals (Cr, Cd, and Pb) with copper content in the dock plant was investigated. Dock (Rumex patientia L.) is a medicinal aromatic plant grown in contaminated soils with some heavy metals (Cr, Cd, and Pb). For this purpose, 100 mgkg-1 Cr, Cd and Pb were applied to each pot. The content of copper in test soils was found to be 1.50 mg kg-1. Increased doses of (0, 5, 10 and 15 mmolkg-1) EDTA chelate were given to soils contaminated with metals. At the end of a two-month trial, the plants were harvested. The contents of copper in the patience dock plant with a fixed dose of heavy metals were compared with that of heavy metals applied with increasing doses of chelate in the pot experiment. According to the results, increasing chelate applications, especially lead and cadmium contents increased the copper contents of the leaves of patience dock plant. However, the opposite situation was observed in the plant roots. These increases were found to be statistically significant at the level of 1%. The aromatic plant patience dock was shown to be a hyperaccumulator for heavy metals. Dock plant is useable for heavy metal remediation near highway or motorway in agricultural soils.