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Int. J. Life. Sci. Scienti. Res.

, 3(6): 1522-1526 November 2017

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Assessment for Variation of Air Pollution


Tolerance Index of Selected Plants in
Bengaluru Urban
Manjunath B.T1, Jayarama Reddy2*
1
Research Scholar, Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India
2
Professor, Department of Botany, St. Josephs College, 36, Langford Road, Bengaluru, India
*
Address for Correspondence: Dr. Jayarama Reddy, Professor, Department of Botany, St. Josephs College,
36, Langford Road, Bengaluru, India
Received: 05 August 2017/Revised: 23 August 2017/Accepted: 19 October 2017

ABSTRACT- To develop the usefulness of Caesalpinia pulcherrima and Catharanthus roseus plants as bioindicators,
which entail an utmost importance for a particular situation. This study focuses on the assessment of air pollution
tolerance index (APTI) of two selected plant species commonly found along roadsides in Bengaluru, India. The plant
species selected for the study were Caesalpinia pulcherrima and Catharanthus roseus. The plants were evaluated in
terms of APTI by analyzing four different biochemical parameters: Leaf relative water content (RWC), Ascorbic acid
content (AA), Total leaf chlorophyll (TCh), and pH of leaf extract. Based on APTI Caesalpinia pulcherrima was found
to be more tolerant compared to Catharanthus roseus. Species with lower APTI value are considered sensitive species,
which can be used as a biological indicator for further monitoring of air quality. Species with higher APTI value are
tolerant species and thus, can be planted for pollution abatement in order to control and reduce environmental pollution.
Key-words- Air pollution tolerance index (APTI), biochemical parameters, roadside plants, Biomonitors

INTRODUCTION
Air Pollution can be simply defined as an undesirable There are several morphological, behavioral,
change in the physical, chemical and biological physiological and anatomical changes in plants and
properties of air due to anthropogenic or any other cause. animals due to air pollution. But the effect is different
An air pollutant is a substance in the air that can have in different organisms depending on the chemical the
adverse effects on humans and the ecosystem. The substance causing the pollution [1-3].
substance can be solid particles, liquid droplets, or gases. The responses of plants to the severity of their
Air pollution is a serious problem throughout the world. environment have attracted the attention of a man long
Rapid industrialization and vehicular traffic especially in before the establishment of the science of Biology. To a
the urban areas of India lead to the deterioration lay man, plants that survive in a harsh environment
of air quality by adding toxic gases and other substances are hardy; those which do not are tender. Biologists
to the atmosphere. All combustion releases gases and have adopted the term stress for any environmental factor
particulate matter into the air, which includes SO2, potentially unfavorable to living organisms and stress
NO2, CO and soot particles as well as smaller quantities resistance for the ability of the plant to survive the
of toxic metals, organic molecules, and radioactive unfavorable factor and even to grow in its presence.
isotopes etc. The degradation of air quality is the major A biological stress can be defined as any environmental
environmental problem that affects many urban and factor capable of inducing a potentially, injurious strain in
industrial sites and the surrounding regions worldwide. living organisms. The living organisms may show a
Although various efforts have been done for physical strain or change or a chemical strain [4].
environmental restoration in India still it seems to be a Air pollutions can directly affect plants via leaves or
formidable task. A pollutant can be of natural origin or indirectly via soil acidification. It has also been reported
manmade. Air Pollution results in huge harm to the living that when exposed to air pollutants, most plant experience
organisms. physiological changes before exhibiting visible damage to
leaves. Studies have also shown the impacts of air
Access this article online pollution of Ascorbic acid content chlorophyll content,
leaf extract pH, and relative water content. These separate
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parameters gave conflicting results for same species.
www.ijlssr.com
However, the air pollution tolerance index (APTI)
based on all four parameters has been used for
identifying tolerance levels of plant species. Several
contributors agree that air pollutants affect plant growth
DOI: 10.21276/ijlssr.2017.3.6.16 adversely. These urban air pollutants not only represent a
threat to human health and the urban environment but it

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Int. J. Life. Sci. Scienti. Res., 3(6): 1522-1526 November 2017
can also contribute to serious regional and global screening of plants for their tolerance level to air
atmospheric pollution problem. Among the air pollutants, pollutants is important because the sensitive plants can
air-borne particulates specifically trace elements and serve as bio- indicator and the tolerant plants as a sink
heavy metals constitute the major pollutant burden in the for controlling air pollution in urban and industrial areas.
urban environment, which needs to be monitored, So, in order to evaluate the susceptibility level of
filtered and regulated. With regard to the mitigation of plants to air pollutants, four parameters namely leaf
these severe problems, policy should be adopted to extract pH, Relative Water Content, Ascorbic acid and
control the pollution burden by means of monitoring, chlorophyll content were determined and computed
filtering and regulating the pollutants and their proper together in a formulation signifying the Air Pollution
management. One of the important technique is the urban Tolerance Index (APTI) of grown plant species
plantation and green belt development with suitable plant in polluted and non-polluted areas of Bangalore. The
species in an appropriate manner, which is highly plant species can be identified as tolerant or sensitive
imperative to biofilter the toxic pollutants as well as ones using Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) scale
other economic value. It is an established fact that method, which is based upon the variation of selected
vegetation plays an important role by cleaning the biochemical parameters. It is a very useful index and can
atmosphere by absorbing certain toxic air pollutants from classify plant species in various scales like very sensitive,
its surroundings and also abatement of noise pollution. sensitive, intermediate, and tolerant. The tolerant ones
Thus Green belts are recommended for containment of air can serve as sinks for the abatement of air
pollution in the human environment, especially in the pollution in urban and industrial habitats and sensitive
urban and industrial environment. Model for green ones can be used as bio-indicators. APTI value was
belt, development is recently developed in relation to calculated based on the biochemical parameters as
pollution around industrial premises. In addition, there described in methodology and variation of APTI among
were the numbers of other benefits like an aesthetic the plant species with respect to polluted site and control
improvement, climatic amelioration, biomass generation, sites are been presented. The APTI values obtained for
enhancement of biodiversity etc. are the bonus derived different plants were compared to find out the
through the presence of greenery in the areas. In an urban sensitivity/tolerance of these plants. It was reported that
region of Iran, it has become mandatory for large-scale plants with relatively low index value are generally
polluting industry to plant appropriate green belts in and sensitive to air pollutants and vice versa. The APTI
around its unit to protect surrounding ecology. Plants determination provides a reliable method for screening a
remove air pollutants primarily by uptake via leaf stomata large number of plants with respect to their susceptibility
and once inside the leaf, gases diffuse into intercellular to air pollutants. The method is simple and convenient to
spaces and absorbed by water films. Plants, grown in such adopt field conditions without adopting any costly
a way as to function as pollutants sinks are collectively environmental monitoring gadgets. The sensitive species
referred to as greenbelts which have limits to their can be used as bio-indicators and tolerant species can be
tolerance towards air pollutants. Greening by plantation, used as a sink for air pollutants. Plants have been
which makes use of vegetation to remove, detoxify or categorized into groups according to their degree of
stabilize persistently pollutants is a green and sensitivity toward and tolerance of various air pollutants
environment friendly tool for a clean environment. The on the basis of experiment and available data.
screening of effective plants for the particulate sink Levels of tolerance to air pollution vary from species to
is essential for air pollution abatement in an urban species, depending on the capacity of plants to
environment. The routine analysis of elements thus needs withstand the effect of pollutants without showing any
from the foliage of urban trees are essential to external damage [6].
understanding the level of metal bioaccumulation and its
consequent effect on the plant. Increased urbanization, MATERIALS AND METHODS
industrialization, and heavy vehicular traffic have resulted Sampling site- The non-polluted zone, Christ
in deterioration of air quality. However, no major attempt University grounds is situated on the Hosur main road,
has been taken to assess about bioaccumulation of urban inverse to dairy circle, Bangalore, India. The place is
plant specifically to assess the tolerance of atmospheric located at the height of 900 m above the sea level. The
pollutants in an appropriate manner [5,22-25]. Hence, the coordinates on the globe correspond to 12o 56North and
present study is concerned with the establishment of air 77 o 36 in the East. The range is loaded with greenery
pollution biomonitoring capacity with special reference to thus zone is less inclined to Air Pollution. Consequently,
biochemical and study in a critically polluted region of this site is had been considered as a Control site for the
Bangalore. Air Pollution Tolerance Index is a measure of study. The polluted zone for the under study was the
tolerance level in the plants for air pollution. Hosur highway, which is situated in Bengaluru,
Researchers related to Air Pollution Tolerance Index have Karnataka. This place is also located at the height of 900
been done in many places. Air pollution is one of the m above the sea level. The coordinates on the globe
leading topics of discussion these days due to the correspond to 12o 56North and 77o 36 in the East. The
pollutants created or generated by our modern life. So, the area was highly polluted due to the industries and a huge
current topic is been researched in many places in amount of vehicles due to daily traffic.
India, as well as other countries. The methods of

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Int. J. Life. Sci. Scienti. Res., 3(6): 1522-1526 November 2017

Sampling Procedure- Plants were selected from one of The leaves were then immersed in water overnight at
the major Highway in Hosur, which has high levels of 70 and reweighed to obtain the dry weight.
vehicular emissions and industrial emissions. The
criterion for the selection of these plants was mainly on RWC= FW-DW X 100
their availability and abundance of these two species TW-DW
Caesalpinia pulcherrima and Catharanthus roseus in FW = Fresh weight
parts of Bengaluru urban area. Six replicates of fully DW= Dry weight
matured plants from both control and polluted zone were TW=Turgid weight
taken and immediately taken to the laboratory in a
Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI)
heatproof container for the analysis.
Determination- This was done following the method of
Air Pollution Tolerance Index Technique (APTI)- Singh [24]. The formula of APTI is given as:
To calculate APTI the following four parameters for the APTI = A (T+P) + R
samples were analyzed: 10
Total Chlorophyll Content (TCh)- Total chlorophyll A = Ascorbic acid content (mg/g)
content of the leaf samples were done using the T = Total Chlorophyll (mg/g)
spectrophotometric method described by Arnon [7]. Leaf P = pH of leaf extract
samples were macerated with 30 mL of distilled water R = Relative water content of leaf (%)
and left aside for 15 min for through extraction. The leaf
extract was decanted into centrifuge tubes and centrifuged RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
at 2500 rpm for 10 min. Absorbance was read at 645 nm, Changes in total chlorophyll content-
The
663 nm, and 75 nm using UV-Visible Spectrophotometer. chlorophyll value was relatively low in polluted site when
The calculation of total chlorophyll content was done compared to control. Chlorophyll content of plants
using formula: signifies its photosynthetic activity as well as the growth
and development of biomass. It is well evident that
TCh = [20.2(A645) + 8.02(A663)] [V/ (1000 x W)] chlorophyll content of plants varies from species to
Where, TCh= Total chlorophyll in mg/g species; the age of leaf, and also with the pollution level
A645= Absorbance at 645 nm minus the absorbance at as well as with other biotic and abiotic conditions [9].
750 nm Degradation of photosynthetic pigment has been widely
A663= Absorbance at 663 nm minus the absorbance at used as an indication of air pollution [10]. The present
750 nm study revealed that chlorophyll content in all the plants
V= Total volume of the extract in mL varies with the pollution status of the area i.e. higher the
W= Weight of the sample in g pollution level in the form of vehicular exhausts lower the
chlorophyll content. It also varies with the tolerance as
Ascorbic Acid (AA) Content Analysis- Ascorbic well as the sensitivity of the plant species i.e. higher the
acid content (expressed in mg/g) was measured using sensitive nature of the plant species lower the chlorophyll
spectrophotometric method [8,14,21]. One gram of the fresh content. Studies [11-12,22-24] also suggest that high levels of
foliage was put in a test-tube, 4 ml oxalic acid EDTA automobile pollution decrease chlorophyll content in
extracting solution was added, them 1 ml of higher plants near roadsides. In all the plant species,
Orthophosphoric acid and then 1 ml 5% tetraoxosulphate chlorophyll content was higher in monsoon season, which
(vi) acid added to this mixture, 2 ml of ammonium might be due to the washout of dust particles from the
molybdate was added and then 3ml of water. The solution leaf surface (which will increase photosynthetic activity),
was then allowed to stand for 15 minutes after which the low level of pollution and water content of soil as
absorbance at 760nm was measured with a suggested by Shyam et al. [13].
spectrophotometer. The concentrations of ascorbic acid in
the sample were then extrapolated from a standard Table 1: Comparison of total chlorophyll content
ascorbic. Plant species Control Site Polluted Site

Leaf Extract pH- This was done following the method Caesalpinia pulcherrima 6.042 mg/g 5.84 mg/g
[8]
adopted by Agbaire et al. . Total 5g weight of the fresh Catharanthus roseus 1.81 mg/g 1.73 mg/g
leaves was homogenized in 10ml deionized water. This
was filtered and the pH of the leaf extract determined
after calibrating pH water with buffer solution of pH 4 Changes in ascorbic acid content- Values of
and 9. ascorbic acid content were relatively high in polluted site,
when compared to control. Ascorbic acid is a very
Relative Leaf Water Content (RWC)- To calculate important reducing agent i.e. ascorbic acid also plays a
RWC method described by Agbaire et al. [8] and Singh [23] vital role in cell wall synthesis, defense and cell division
[14]
were applied to the leaf samples of both plant species. . The present study was showed elevation in the
Fresh weight was obtained by weighing the fresh leaves. concentration of ascorbic acid with respect to the control

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Int. J. Life. Sci. Scienti. Res., 3(6): 1522-1526 November 2017
zone in all the plant species selected. Pollution load Air Pollution Tolerance Index- From this study, it
dependent increase in the ascorbic acid content of all the was found that the plant species Caesalpinia pulcherrima
plant species may be due to the increased rate of had higher APTI as compared to Catharanthus roseus,
production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during showed that Caesalpinia pulcherrima in a better
photo-oxidation of SO2 to SO3 where sulfites are condition. Nonetheless, the APTI values of the plants at
generated from SO2 absorbed. Previous reports suggest control locations showed that there was only a slight
that higher ascorbic acid content of the plant is a sign of difference in the values, indicating that they were
its tolerance against sulphur dioxide pollution [15-16]. In the adapting well to the environment. However, they still fell
present lower ascorbic acid contents in the leaves of other under the sensitive group based on the APTI scale.
plant species studied supports the sensitive nature of these According to the APTI scale, any plant species with the
plants towards pollutants particularly automobile value less than 1 is considered as very sensitive, plant
exhausts. Previous study also confirmed an increase in the with value from 1 to 16 is considered as sensitive, plant
concentration of ascorbic acid in the leaves of near with value in the range of 17 to 29 is considered as
roadsides plants due to enhanced pollution loads of intermittently tolerant and plant with value from 30 to
automobiles [12]. 100 is considered as tolerant. From the overall results
obtained, it was observed that the Catharanthus roseus
Table 2: Comparison of ascorbic acid content was less sensitive in comparison with Caesalpinia
Plant species Control Site Polluted Site pulcherrima. The APTI value of the Caesalpinia
pulcherrima was much higher than the value of
Caesalpinia pulcherrima 8 mg/g 9 mg/g Catharanthus roseus.

Catharanthus roseus 6 mg/g 7 mg/g Table 5: Observed value of Air Pollution Tolerance
Index (APTI)
Plant species Control Site Polluted Site
Changes in leaf extract pH- There was a slight
reduction in leaf pH among the plant species studied with Caesalpinia pulcherrima 14.82 16.87
respect to the control. Previous studies have reported that
in the presence of an acidic pollutant, the leaf pH is Catharanthus roseus 12.27 14.12
lowered and the decline is greater in sensitive species
[17-21]
. A shift in cell sap pH towards the acid side in
presence of an acidic pollutant might decrease the CONCLUSIONS
efficiency of conversion of hexose sugar to ascorbic acid. In conclusion, it appears that with increase in
However, the reducing activity of ascorbic acid is pH industrialization and urbanization, there is an increase
dependent being more at higher and lesser at lower pH. threat of deforestation and hence such type of APTI
Hence the leaf extract pH on the higher side gives determinations will gain significant importance for future
tolerance to plants against pollution [22-25]. planning. Firstly, this study revealed the impact of air
pollution in terms of changes took place in various
Table 3: Comparison of pH biochemical parameters of studied species. Secondly, this
Plant species Control Site Polluted Site
work threw light on the selection of air pollution tolerant
species in terms of their APTI values. The study provided
Caesalpinia pulcherrima 5.76 5.81 useful information for selecting tolerant species for
landscaping and urban heat island reduction. The plant
Catharanthus roseus 6.15 6.2 species Catharanthus roseus was less sensitive in
comparison with Caesalpinia pulcherrima. Caesalpinia
pulcherrima APTI value was found to be moderately
Changes in relative water content- The relative
tolerant with respect to APTI classification which could
water content was high among the plant species in
be considered for biocontrol strategy against air pollution.
polluted site when compared to control. Relative water
Thus this study provides useful information for selecting
content is associated with protoplasmic permeability in
tolerant species for landscaping and urban heat island
cells causing loss of water and dissolved nutrients,
reduction and for future planning. The present study
resulting in early senescence of leaves [3,18-21]. Therefore
recommends various tree species for urban planting so
the plants with high relative water content under polluted
that a wider usage of local, as well as exotic tree species,
conditions may be tolerant to pollutants.
can be explored for controlling air born pollution in urban
Table 4: Comparison of relative water content climate.
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How to cite this article:


Manjunath B.T, Reddy J: Assessment for Variation of Air Pollution Tolerance Index of Selected Plants in Bengaluru
Urban. Int. J. Life. Sci. Scienti. Res., 2017; 3(6):1522-1526. DOI:10.21276/ijlssr.2017.3.6.16
Source of Financial Support: Nil, Conflict of interest: Nil

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