Phytoextraction

The contagion of the environment with toxic metals has become a worldwide problem. Heavy metal toxicity affects crop yields, soil biomass and fertility. Soils polluted with heavy metals pose a serious health hazard to humans as well as plants and animals, and often requires soil remediation practices. Phytoextraction refers to the uptake of contaminants from soil or water by plant roots and their translocation to any harvestable plant part. Phytoextraction has the potential to remove contaminants and promote long-term cleanup of soil or wastewater. The success of phytoextraction as a potential environmental cleanup technology depends on factors like metal availability for uptake, as well as plants ability to absorb and accumulate metals in aerial parts. Organic acids are important root exudates and microbial metabolites in terms of their ability to increase the dissolution of metals from highly insoluble mineral phases in soil, thereby increasing metal mobility in the vicinity ofroots and enhancing their availability to plants. Many organic acids are being investigated to determine their usefulness for phytoextraction like EDTA, citric acid, acetic acid & humic acid.