• Roopali Roychowdhury
• Dr. Madhumita Roy
• Dr. Sufia Zaman
• Dr. Abhijit Mitra

Ricinus communis, commonly known as castor oil plant, belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae. A plant of commercial importance, it has also been used as a biofuel crop. Commonly found growing in clusters, these plants can survive in stress and environmentally polluted areas. To evaluate the efficiency of this plant in the phytoremediation of heavy metals, an invitro pot based study was conducted with fly ash amended soil and plain soil which served as a control. This study evaluated Pb accumulation by the different vegetative parts of the experimental and control castor oil (Ricinus communis) plants. The harvested plant samples were analysed for heavy metal accumulation by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). Lead accumulation in the vegetative parts of the plant revealed maximum accumulation of lead in the Above Ground Biomass (AGB). Lead accumulation in the sample plant grown in fly ash amended soil was found to be in the order, shoot> root> leaf. However, lead accumulation was considerably low in plain garden soil and was in the order leaf> root> shoot. Castor oil plant can serve as an appropriate plant to be used as an indicator plant for lead tolerance in environmentally contaminated soil. It also has the potential to phytoremediate contaminated areas. It can further be used in fly ash contaminated sites to phytoremediate and help in the revegetation of fly ash dykes, contributing towards fly ash utilization.

phytoremediation; heavy metal; accumulation; revegetation

"Phytoremediation Potential Of Castor Oil Plant (Ricinus Communis) Grown On Fly Ash Amended Soil Towards Lead Bioaccumulation", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 2, page no.156-160, February-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1902722.pdf

"Phytoremediation Potential Of Castor Oil Plant (Ricinus Communis) Grown On Fly Ash Amended Soil Towards Lead Bioaccumulation", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 2, page no. pp156-160, February-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1902722.pdf