BRASSICA NAPUS: BIOREMEDIATION

Abstract

Contaminated environments such as soils possess a primary problem for healthy agriculture. The soils should be decontaminated by biological means in order to be used for long term sustainable agriculture. One of the promising ways to decontaminate the soil is the bioremediation process in which plants, microorganisms or enzymes are employed to convert the contaminants into a less toxic form in soil. Besides being cost effective, the use of microorganisms and plants is an environmentally safe method. The genus Brassica is well distributed all over the world, consumed frequently due to its health benefits such as high vitamin and antioxidant enzyme contents. The plants belonging to Brassica genus are recently subject to research by their ability to ameliorate contaminants from soil. Microorganisms play a crucial role in the withdrawal of contaminants to the body of the plants. The organic content of the soils are critical in sustainable agriculture of Brassica napus, however organic contents of the soils decrease by conventional agricultural practices in recent years which, together with the increase in soil contaminants, negatively affect the cultivation of this plant. Alternative methods to ameliorate the inorganic and organic contaminants have been shown to increase yield and minimize the negative effects of those contaminants. Biofertilization, basically with microorganisms, both increase the yield in Brassica napus cultivation and intoxicate the contaminants in soils. In this chapter the use of Brassica napus and microorganisms in bioremediation of contaminated soils are reviewed. © 2020 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.