Evaluation of Furcraea foetida (L.)Haw. for phytoremediation of cadmium contaminated soils.

In the present study, we evaluated Furcraea foetida for the phytoremediation of cadmium (Cd)-contaminated soils. We selected F. foetida because it is a drought-resistant plant, produces high biomass, and needs minimum maintenance. It belongs to the leaf fiber group of plants and therefore has economic importance. Since it is a non-edible crop, there is no danger of food chain contamination. Despite possessing these ideal characteristics, surprisingly, to date, the plant is underutilized for phytoremediation purposes. Therefore, to evaluate the phytoremediation potential of the plant, we exposed it to five levels of cadmium (0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg Cd kg-1 soil) and studied its influence on growth, dry matter production, uptake, and translocation efficiency. The plant showed good tolerance to Cd 200 mg kg-1 soil without exhibiting any visible toxicity symptoms. The metal mainly accumulated in the roots (233 μg g-1dw), followed by leaf (51 μg g-1 dw). The bioconcentration factor was > 1, but the translocation factor was < 1. The plant was not classified as a hyperaccumulator of Cd; however, because of its high uptake (897 μ g-1 plant) and translocation efficiency (78%), we concluded that the plant could be utilized for phytoextraction of Cd from soils with low to moderately contaminated soils.