ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Soil Processes
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1558255
This article is part of the Research TopicNanotechnology-enabled Agriculture and its Environmental ImpactView all articles
Phytoaccumulation of chromium by hemp and ryegrass in rice husk biochars, nano-zero valent zinc and vermicompost amended tannery wastewater soil
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan
- 2Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Vehari 61100, Pakistan, Vehari, Pakistan
- 3Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan, Faisalabad, Pakistan
- 4Indian River Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Fort Pierce, FL 34945, United States of America, Fort Pierce, United States
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Chromium (Cr) contamination of soil threatens environmental and human health, necessitating effective and sustainable remediation solutions. Here we explored the impact of rice husk biochar (RH-BC), nano-RH-BC, vermicompost, nano-zero valent zinc (nZVZn), and manganese-modified RH-BC (MnO/RH-BC) on phytoaccumulation of Cr by industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) and ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) grown in tannery wastewater-impacted Cr-contaminated soil in a pot trial. Result revealed that maximum shoot Cr concentration was observed in ryegrass with nZVZn mainly in first cutting (45 mg kg⁻¹ DW) followed by vermicompost (42 mg kg⁻¹ DW) > RH-BC (40 mg kg⁻¹ DW) > nano-RH-BC (35 mg kg⁻¹ DW) ~ MnO/H-BC (34 mg kg⁻¹ DW). In the case of hemp, nZVZn led to maximum shoot Cr concentration (42 mg kg⁻¹ DW) and minimum with RH-BC (4 mg kg⁻¹ DW); notably, hemp survived only for the first harvest. The SPAD value (chlorophyll content) was the highest with MnO/RH-BC for ryegrass and RH-BC for hemp (40 and 51, respectively) and minimum with nZVZn. Results showed that the RH-BC enhanced shoot dry weight of hemp by 664% compared to control, and MnO/RH-BC increased for ryegrass by 400%, 93%, 55%, and 21% at 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th harvests, respectively. Overall, RH-BC and MnO/RH-BC-amended soils improved plant tolerance against Cr, highlighting their potential for phytoremediation of Cr-contaminated soil. Based on the findings, it is evident that Cr phytoaccumulation is a complex process and varies with plant species and amendment type, which are key factors to consider in future field trials on tannery wastewater-impacted Cr-contaminated soils.
Keywords: contamination, Phytostabilization, Carbon-based amendments, Nanoparticles, Chromium
Received: 09 Jan 2025; Accepted: 14 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zulfqar, Niazi, Saqib, Shahid, Hussain and He. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Amna Zulfqar, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Nabeel Khan Niazi, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Zhenli He, Indian River Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Fort Pierce, FL 34945, United States of America, Fort Pierce, United States
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