The Role of Antioxidant Metabolism in Phytoremediation of Shrimp Farm Effluent by Acrostichum aureum Linn

Abstract

The study evaluates the phytoremediation capabilities of Acrostichum aureum in the treatment of shrimp farm effluent. The effluent parameters like Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) (73%), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) (39%) and Nitrate (55%) were found reduced considerably during the treatment period of thirty days. The antioxidant concentrations of the plant were increased to cope up with the stress environment. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) in plants was increased to 70% during the treatment period. Peroxidase activity was also found to be increased from 0.02 to 0.26 mg/gFW. The increase in non-enzymatic antioxidants like chlorophyll indicated the health status of the plant during the treatment period.