PHYTOREMEDIAITON OF CHROMIUM CONTAMINATED SOIL BY AFRICAN SPINACH (Amaranthus hybridus) IN JOS, NIGERIA

Ayodele Owonubi* and Blessing Akayi Abimiku

Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria; Federal College of Forestry, Jos; Department of Horticulture and Landscape Technology, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

Email: ayowonubi@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Phytoremediation involves the use of living green plants for in situ risk reduction and or removal of contaminants from contaminated soil. The objective of this study therefore was to evaluate the effectiveness of African spinach (Amaranthus hybridus) in extraction of chromium (Cr) from contaminated soil. The research consisted of the following treatments: 0, 38, 76, 114, 156, 190 (Cr mg/kg). Potassium dichromate was used as the source of chromium. The plant data collected were leaf count, plant height, stem diameter, shoot weight, the root weight and chromium concentration in shoot and roots which were analyzed using analysis of variance and the Fisher’s pairwise comparisons. The result showed that there was no significant effect of treatments on growth parameters. However, there was significance difference in chromium concentration in the shoots of Amaranthus hybridus among the various treatments when compared to the control. Mean maximum extraction of chromium were within the range 58.0 to 63.0 mg/kg. This indicates that Amaranthus hybridus possess great potential in phyto-extraction of chromium and other heavy metals from contaminated soil.

Keywords: phytoremediation, chromium, African spinach, Amaranthus hybridus