Abstract
Chromium is found in all phases of the environment, including air, water and soil. The contamination of environment by chromium has become a major area of concern. Chromium effluent is highly toxic to plant and is harmful to their growth and development. In present study, a pot experiment was carried out to assess the phytotoxicity of chromium in Hibiscus esculentus at different concentration (0.5, 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg·kg-1) of chromium metal. The phytotoxic effect of chromium was observed on seed germination, seedling growth, seedling vigor index, chlorophyll content and tolerance indices of Hibiscus esculentus. All results when compared with control show that chromium metal adversely affects the growth of Hibiscus esculentus by reducing seed germination and decreasing seedling growth. The toxic effects of chromium metal to seed germination and young seedling are arranged in order of inhibition as: 0.5 > 2.5 > 5 > 10 > 25 > 50 > 100 mg·kg-1 respectively. The toxicity of chromium metal to young seedling and their effects on chlorophyll content were increased with higher concentration of chromium in the soil system. The major inhibitory effect of chromium in Hibiscus esculentus seedling was determined as stress tolerance index (%). The present study represents that the seed and seedling of Hibiscus esculentus has potential to counteract the deleterious effects of chromium metal in soil.
Highlights
Heavy metals are the most imperative component of the environment that frequently accumulate in the soil due to unplanned municipal waste disposal, mining, use of extensive pesticides and chemical fertilizers [1,2]
The result of present study reveals that higher chromium concentration adversely influence the germination process of Hibiscus esculentus seeds (Figure 2)
Increasing concentration of heavy metal significantly reduce the strength of germination as compare to the lowest concentration of heavy metal which have the least harmful influence on the germination [33]
Summary
Heavy metals are the most imperative component of the environment that frequently accumulate in the soil due to unplanned municipal waste disposal, mining, use of extensive pesticides and chemical fertilizers [1,2]. Hyper accumulation of heavy metals may lead to toxic effect in human, animals, plants and other microorganisms and create a serious threat to biota and the environment [3]. Occurring chromium in soil ranges from 10 to 50 mg·kg−1 [1]. The chemistry of chromium is very complex. Mobility and bioavailability in soil strongly depend on the various oxidation states from 0 to + 6. Depending on its oxidation state and concentration, chromium acts as a toxic or essential element for living organism. The two most common species of chromium are
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