Unveiling the effects of heavy metals a comprehensive study on physiological phytochemical and anatomical responses in jacobaea maritima L pelser and meijden

Abstract

Modernization and industrialization have been of great importance in the recent past, yet newlinethere are a few disadvantages including the release of harmful effluents into the environment. The medicinal plants that are found in these heavy metal polluted soils can have positive and negative effects as well. In this study the plant Jacobaea maritima (L.) Pelser and Meijden an important medicinal plant in the field of homeopathy was subjected to three different heavy metalscadmium, chromium and lead at a concentration range of 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250ppm.The morphological parameters, shoot length and root length reduced more than 50% and 25% incase of shoot and root respectively. Phytochemical analysis shows significant variation inchlorophyll. newlineThe highest of protein was found in Cr 100ppm (7.47mg) and the least was found inCd 250ppm newline(0.38mg). Proline was found to be high in Pb 200ppm (1.242mg/ml) and least in Cr50ppm newline(0.368mg/ml). The Total Phenolic Content (TPC) was found to be highest in Cr 250ppm newline(3.229mg/g) and least in control (0.57mg/g) and Total Flavonoid Content (TFC) was found to be highest in Cd 100 ppm and least in Control (0.04mg/g) plant which include root, shoot and leaf. The growth of the plant was observed along with a few parameters like net photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (E), leaf stomatal conductance (C), and the photosynthetic active radiation (PAR). It has been found that the chlorophyll values in the Cr 150 (5.47±0.4) concentration are high. The chlorophyll values in Pb100 (9.4±0.35) and Pb250 (9.8±0.26) are in close proximity to newlineeach other. The highest chlorophyll was found in Cd100 concentration. The net photosynthetic rate was less affected in Pb150 (30.98±0.75), and most in Cr100 (4.05±0.09). The Cr 50 (0.19±0.02) showed the least. The Leaf stomatal conductance was drastically reduced in all the treated plants only Cr 100 (2298.25±1.85) showed minimal variation. In morphology shoot length newlineand root length were reduced more than 50% and 25% in case of shoot and root respectively.