The high potential of Pelargonium roseum plant for phytoremediation of heavy metals

The major objective of this investigation was to evaluate the potential of scented geraniums, Pelargonium roseum, to uptake and accumulate heavy metals nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), or lead (Pb). For this, plants were grown in an artificial soil system and exposed to a range of metal concentrations over a 14-day treatment period. Then, metals from the entire biomass were extracted. The results showed that scented geranium plants accumulated in excess of 20,055 mg of Ni kg(-1) dry weight (DW) of root and 10,889 mg of Ni kg(-1) DW of shoot, and in excess of 86,566 mg of Pb kg(-1) DW for roots and 4,416 mg of Pb kg(-1) DW for shoots within 14 days. Also, the uptake and accumulation of cadmium in roots of scented geranium plants increased with the exposure at low (250, 500 mg L(-1)) and medium level (750 mg L(-1)) followed by a decline at the highest level (1,000 mg L(-1)). The highest accumulation in roots (31,267 mg kg(-1) DW) was observed in 750 mg L(-1) cadmium treatment. In the shoots of scented geraniums, the highest amount of metal accumulation (1,957 mg kg(-1) DW) was detected at 750 and 1,000 mg L(-1) of cadmium in the culture solution. Finally, since the high concentrations of Ni or Pb accumulated in shoots of scented geranium has far exceeded 0.1 % DW and for Cd has far exceeded 0.01 % DW, P. roseum is a new hyperaccumulator species for these metals and can be used in phytoremediation industry.