Influence of Copper Amendments on Soil Properties, Growth and Metal Accumulation by Mentha arvensis L.

Abstract

A polyhouse study was conducted to assess the influence of copper amendments on the soil properties, plant growth parameters (fresh weight and plant height) and metal accumulation in Mentha arvensis L. The amendments of copper were 270, 500, 700 and 900 mg kg-1 in triplicate along with an unamended control. After 90 days of plant growth, the aerial parts of the plant were harvested and the physicochemical properties of the soil such as pH, EC, %OC, %OM and metal content in plant and soil were recorded. The pH and EC values were higher for the amendments as compared to the control. The pH (8.22) and EC (0.80 dS m-1) values were the highest for Cu270 mg kg-1 and Cu500 mg kg-1 amendments, respectively. The percentage of OC and OM was the highest (1.16%, 2.00%) for Cu500 mg kg-1. The plant height was maximum (36.30 cm) for the control plant while the fresh weight was maximum for Cu700 mg kg-1 amendment. The copper accumulation was observed to be the highest (19.3 mg kg-1) for the Cu500 mg kg-1 amendment and least (13.7 mg kg-1) for the higher amendment (Cu900 mg kg-1) showing that for all the amendments along with control, copper accumulation was within the permissible limit. Thus, growing medicinal and aromatic plants in the metal-rich soils can be a sustainable and environment-friendly approach to obtaining metal-free commercially important end products.