ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1595713
"Phytotoxic Effects of Cigarette Smoke on Indoor Plant Epipremnum aureum: In Vivo Analysis Using Chlorophyll a Fluorescence Transients"
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India
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Indoor air pollution from cigarette smoke, poses significant threats to plant growth and development. This study investigates the impact of cigarette smoke on the indoor plant species Epipremnum aureum (money plant), focusing on morphological, biochemical, and physiological aspects, with an emphasis on photosynthetic efficiency. Plants were exposed to varying concentrations of cigarette smoke (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 cigarettes/day) for 15 days in controlled conditions. Key findings include a significant reduction in the mean surface area (MSA) of leaves. Chlorophyll a fluorescence (ChlF) analysis revealed impaired PSII photochemistry, as evidenced by reduced fluorescence yields and a significant decrease in fluorescence intensity at higher smoke exposures. Specific energy fluxes, including absorption energy (ABS/RC), trapped energy (TR0/RC), and electron transport (ET0/RC), showed notable reductions, while dissipated energy (DI0/RC) increased significantly. The performance indices PIABS and PICS decreased with increasing smoke concentration and exposure duration, indicating a decline in overall photosynthetic efficiency. Principal component analysis demonstrated a distinct separation in the physiological response of plants based on exposure levels, with the highest cigarette smoke concentrations causing the most significant disruptions. The lethal dose calculations (LD50 = 6.4 cigarettes/day; LD90 = 9.9 cigarettes/day) highlight the severity of cigarette smoke's impact on E. aureum. These results underscore the detrimental effects of cigarette smoke on indoor plants, suggesting that such pollutants can significantly impair plant health and stress the importance of managing indoor air quality.
Keywords: cigarette smoke, Chlorophyll Fluorescence, pollution, Particulate Matter, Photosynthesis, Abbreviation Cigarette Smoke (CS), Cigarette Smoke Concentration (CSC), Particulate matter (PM)
Received: 18 Mar 2025; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Shah, Bhatt, Singh, CHAUDHARY and Soni. 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: Vineet Soni, Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India
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