Development of wheat plants treated with nux vomica and grown in soil contaminated with Cd and Pb
Goncalves AC, Gonçalves dos Santos M, Schwantes D, Stangarlin JR, De Vasconcelos ES, Benetoli da Silva TR, et al
Abstract
Nowadays the environment is subject to a number of contamination, one of the most pernicious is soil contamination by toxic metals. Various technologies have been studied for the remediation of contaminated soils, being one of most discussed the use of plants in the removal of toxic metals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the medicine Nux vomica applied at high dilutions in wheat plants grown in soil contaminated with Cd and Pb. For that, the experiment was conducted with contaminated soils in three doses based on resolution N°. 420 of CONAMA: Research values (VI) (value existing in the soil); the VI and three times the VI) resulting in 0; 3 and 9 mg kg-1 for Cd and 89; 180 and 540 mg kg-1 for Pb. Plants development, gas exchange, nutrient composition, component production and bioavailability of metals were evaluated. According to the results, the high dilutions of Nux Vomica interfered in height and stem diameter of wheat plants. The soil contamination with Cd and Pb affected negatively the mineral nutrition, productivity and bioavailability of metals. More studies are needed in order to elucidate the use of high dilution of Nux vomica as a remediation alternative.
KEYWORDS: contamination of soils, cadmium, lead.