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In modern era, people are spending their time indoors around 90%. Therefore, in terms of public health, increasing indoor air quality is of great importance. In this study, it was aimed to develop pearlescent pigments that emit negative air ions in order to increase indoor air quality, and the potential of such pigments for use in composite wall paint was evaluated. For this purpose, low refractive index muscovite mica and sericite clay minerals, which were shown to emit negative ions, were combined with high refractive index TiO2. The use of two different clay minerals, different proportions of SnO2 dopant, and calcination process application were selected as experimental parameters and the effect of these parameters on the anatase-rutile phase transformation of TiO2 in the pigments was investigated. Increasing the rutile TiO2 ratio in the synthesized pigments were resulted in a better pearlescent effect and lower photocatalytic activity. In order to increase the negative air ion emitting effect of these pigments with the desired pearlescent pigment properties, these samples were also combined with extract of the Chlorophytum comosum, which also is known to emit negative air ions. As a result of the negative ion emission measurements, it was found that the samples were continued to emit negative ions without a time-dependent decrease even when not combined with the extract of C. comosum. In addition, it was showed that the prepared samples have antibacterial effect against Escherichia coli, which is abundant in indoor environments, especially in health centers such as hospitals and dispensaries, and antifungal effect against Aspergillus niger, which is known as black mold, growing on moist walls.

Background: Chlorophytum comosum, popularly known as Spider Ivy, is used as a medicinal plant in traditional Chinese medicine, however, its detailed chemical composition and biological activity are yet unexplored. Objective: To carry out the phytochemical investigation on different parts of Chlorophytum comosum using GCMS/ LC-ESI-MS and evaluation of its antioxidant, hemolytic and antiproliferative potential on breast cancer (MCF-7), lung cancer (A549, H1299) and normal lung (L-132) cell lines. Methods: Chemical constituents from aqueous roots and leaves extracts were identified using LC-ESI-MS/GCMS. The identified compounds were annotated based on the match of mass spectra with the literature using NIST 14 and METLIN databases. Antioxidant activity was studied using DPPH, FRAP and TPC assays. The antiproliferative effects of ethanolic roots and leaves extracts of Chlorophytum comosum were measured by MTT assay on breast cancer (MCF-7), lung cancer (A549 & H1299) and normal lung (L-132) cell lines. The toxicity studies of the extracts were carried out using Hemolysis assay. Results: GC-MS analysis identified 34 metabolites in roots and 17 from leaves, while 17 compounds from roots and 7 from leaves were detected by LC-ESI-MS. Significant antiproliferative effects were observed on the A549 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 56.86 μg/ml to 68.68 μg/ml while no marked response was observed against normal cell line L-132. Conclusion: Our study represents the first report on the detailed chemical composition and antiproliferative potential of Chlorophytum comosum against lung and breast cancer cell lines.

The development of environmentally friendly infrastructure is very important to reduce the environmental damage that has occurred. Environmentally friendly infrastructure can be supported by vertical garden. Plants in vertical garden undergo evaporation process called evapotranspiration process. The evapotranspiration process can be used to find out the needs of water in plants. The method used to obtain the evapotranspiration value is the Penman-Monteith method. The plants used are Plectranthus scutellarioides, Begonia, Coleus, Euodia ridleyi dwarf, Euodia ridleyi, and Chlorophytum comosum. The reference evapotranspiration value in The Hydraulic Laboratory of Sriwijaya University is 4.9826 mm/day and the smallest is 2.1262 mm/day. The reference evapotranspiration value is influenced by temperature, wind speed, and humidity conditions. Based on these three influences, temperature has a greater influence on the reference evapotranspiration. The largest evapotranspiration value of the six types of plants used is the Plectranthus scutellarioides, which is 3.3347 mm/day, the evapotranspiration value of the smallest plant is Euodia ridleyi dwarf, which is 2.6616 mm/day. The location and arrangement of plants and environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, wind speed affect the amount of evapotranspiration value.

92% populasi dunia bernapas di tengah kualitas udara yang buruk karena tingginya konsentrasi polusi udara. Polusi udara berkontribusi sebanyak 43% dari seluruh penyakit dan kematian akibat Penyakit Paru Obstruktif Kronis (PPOK). Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), komponen polusi udara yang paling berbahaya, menyebabkan 4,2 juta kematian pada tahun 2017. PM2.5 bisa dibedakan menjadi PM2.5 dalam ruangan dan luar ruangan. PM2.5 luar ruangan memiliki rata-rata konsentrasi PM2.5 yang lebih tinggi sehingga tidak menutup kemungkinan mampu mempengaruhi PM2.5 dalam ruangan. Remediasi merupakan upaya untuk memulihkan area yang tercemar. Teknik remediasi yang sering digunakan saat ini adalah dengan menggunakan berbagai zat kimia untuk mengadsorpsi, memfiltrasi, ozonasi, fotolisis, dan biofiltrasi. Fitoremediasi merupakan remediasi yang menggunakan bantuan tanaman dengan memanfaatkan karakteristik permukaan tanaman serta mikroorganisme yang berada di dalam filosfer tanaman. Sirih gading (Epipremnum aureum) dan lili paris (Chlorophytum comosum) terbukti memiliki karakteristik permukaan daun yang mampu mengakumulasi PM2.5 terutama PM2.5 dalam ruangan. Selain itu, mikroorganisme yang terdapat di dalam filosfer kedua tanaman tersebut diketahui memiliki kemampuan untuk melakukan detoksifikasi PM2.5. Mikroorganisme yang memiliki kemampuan untuk detoksifikasi pada Epipremnum aureum adalah Aspergillus niger dan Aspergillus fumigatus serta bakteri filum Firmicutes. Sedangkan pada Chlorophytum comosum, mikroorganisme yang sangaet berperan adalah bakteri filum Proteobacteria.

This work aims to explore the role of cadmium-resistant actinomycetes on promoting plant growth and cadmium uptake in Chlorophytum comosum (Thunb.) Jacques, a spider plant. Actinomycetes isolated from the plant roots in peat swamp forests were screened for their cadmium resistance and the production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and siderophores. The results found that K5PN1 and 11-10SHTh produced high levels of IAA and siderophores, respectively. K5PN1 and 11-10SHTh were identified to be Streptomyces rapamycinicus and Streptomyces cyaneus, respectively. Both strains were able to remove cadmium from aqueous solution and survive under cadmium stress in contaminated soil. The results of pot experiments found that the selected Streptomyces inoculation increased the root and shoot biomass and cadmium accumulation in the root and shoot of C. comosum planted in a cadmium-contaminated soil. The highest cadmium accumulation and translocation ability of cadmium from the root to shoot was found in C. comosum with S. rapamycinicus inoculation. In addition, plant with S. cyaneus inoculation had the highest phytoextraction coefficient and bioaccumulation factor. Our findings concluded that S. rapamycinicus and S. cyaneus stimulated the growth and cadmium uptake in C. comosum, suggesting a combined approach using the selected Streptomyces and C. comosum for phytoremediation of cadmium-polluted soil.

An investigation was carried out to study the performance of various media and nutrients for spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) in modular vertical walls under vertical green walls in the Department of Horticulture, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar (Tamil Nadu) during 2018 to 2020. The experiment comprised of four media viz., coco peat, greenosil, perlite and vermiculite and their combinations and two nutrients viz., foliar nutrition (Grosure NPK 19:19:19 and @ 1% twice (30 and 90 days after planting)) and fertilizer stick (Greenstix sticks were inserted to the modular containers @ one per container at 30 and 90 days after planting). Results revealed that, among the media, plants grown under vermiculite showed better performance in exhibiting maximum values for plant height (24.9 cm), number of leaves (21.6), leaf length (23.8 cm), leaf width (2.43), leaf area (30.9 cm2), shoot weight (15.1 g plant-1), root weight (3.4 g plant-1), biomass (18.4 g plant-1), size index (24.7 cm), and visual quality (9.08). However, among the nutrients, plants inserted with fertilizer stick recorded highest values for plant height (20.9 cm), number of leaves (18.8), leaf length (20.9 cm), leaf width (2.21), leaf area (30.2 cm2), shoot weight (14.8 g plant-1), root weight (3.24 g plant-1), biomass (18.1 g plant-1), size index (22.5 cm), and visual quality (8.49). compared with foliar nutrition. The interaction between media and nutrients was significant and plants grown under vermiculite and containers inserted with fertilizer stick showed superior performance in exerting maximum values for all the characters than other treatment combinations.

Spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum) are known to be among the most common easy mountable indoor plants capable of purifying indoor air by absorbing carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, xylene, and many other hazardous gases. In addition, these plants are non-toxic and safe for pets and children. This project is focused on the investigation of the spider plants' capability of the formaldehyde purification under laboratory-controlled parameters of the indoor air environment. Two scenarios including employment of fresh plants as well as recovered ones damaged by 7-day exposure of formaldehyde were considered. A special attention was made to the investigation of physiological indexes of the plant leaves after damage, and whether the spider plant could be reused after its recovery. The physiological characteristics of the recovery period of potted Chlorophytum comosum immediately after 7 days of fumigation with formaldehyde were studied. Eight physiological indexes of leaves including chlorophyll, free protein, relative conductivity, MDA (malondialdehyde, lipid peroxidation), SOD (superoxide dismutase), POD (peroxidase), T-AOC (total antioxidant capacity), and stomata were selected to monitor plants' recovery processes. The results of 30-day experimental runs showed that three species of spider plants were mostly recovered within 15 days. Repeated 7-day fumigation of plants, conducted to study their ability to effectively clean the air after regeneration, confirmed such ability; the efficiency at the first day was similar to the performance of the fresh plant. However, from the second day, the efficiency was dropped by 35-50% and remained at these levels for the rest of the exercise.

Air phytoremediation technology has been reported as a high potential technology for indoor air pollution treatment. Since 1996, NASA has supported this technology for application in the international space station. However, changes in plant physiology and hormone levels under microgravity (μG) conditions might affect air phytoremediation efficiency, especially changes of auxin hormone transportation in plants. In this study, the application of Chlorophytum comosum, high benzene removal plant species, to remove 100 ppm gaseous benzene under μG condition was studied. The experiment was operated for three days in a random positioning machine generate 6.44 × 10−4 G within 1 h. The results showed that under μG, benzene removal efficiency by C. comosum was significantly increased, with a remove more than 80% within three days under both 24 h light and dark conditions. In contrast, C. comosum growing under normal gravity (1G) can remove about 75% and 50% benzene under 24 h light and 24 h dark conditions, respectively. Surprisingly, μG conditions seem to maintain open stomata of a plant open under both 24 h light and dark conditions, and this plant will normally have closed stomata in the dark. In this case, shoot auxin hormone in the form of Indole-3-acetic acid was highly increased in the plant growing under μG. This result suggested that under μG, auxin hormone might be accumulated in the shoot part of plant. This auxin accumulation effect of maintaining open plant stomata can enhance benzene phytoremediation efficiency since stomata are the major benzene uptake pathway. Therefore, this study is the first report presenting the possibility of applying air phytoremediation technology under μG conditions.

The growth response, tolerance, and enrichment characteristics of six ornamental species, Chlorophytum comosum, Calendula officinalis, Iris lacteal, Belamcanda chinensis, Saponaria officinalis, and Polygonum lapathifolium were studied under hydroponic culture with lead (Pb) concentrations ranging from 0 to 1000 mg/L. The results showed that the growth of the tested ornamental species under Pb stress was inhibited. Belamcanda chinensis presented the largest tolerance index (0.75), and Calendula officinalis had the highest toxicity threshold (500 mg/L) under Pb stress. The highest Pb contents in the shoots were detected in Iris lacteal and Belamcanda chinensis. The enrichment coefficients in the shoots of Iris lacteal and Belamcanda chinensis were significantly higher than those in the other ornamental species. In conclusion, Iris lacteal and Belamcanda chinensis are the most tolerant and have the greatest Pb enrichment and translocation abilities under Pb stress, and thus, they have a strong potential to restore Pb-contaminated water bodies and soils.

One of the promising areas of landscaping is container. The use of plants in containers in the central part of the city will create landscaping in areas where trees and shrubs cannot be planted directly into the soil. Perspective, in this regard, is the use in landscaping in the frost-free period of tropical and subtropical plants. This method does not solve the problem as a whole, but it can be a great original addition. The aim of this work was to analyze the participation of tropicogenic flora plants in the landscaping of the city of Kryvyi Rih and to identify perspectives for greening of metropolitan species from the collection of tropical and subtropical plants of the Kryvyi Rog Botanical Garden of the NAS of Ukraine. Surveying of the city's greening showed that the use of subtropical and tropical plants as a container container during the warm period is quite limited, and the single facts of their use in containers are revealed. For these purposes, plants of Chamaerops humilis L., Agave americana L., Brugmansia suaveolens (Humb. Et Bonpl. Ex Wild.), Chlorophytum comosum (Thunb.) Baker., Chlorophytum comosum 'Variegatum', Nerium oleander L. varieties were used. In the presence of extremely rich collections of tropical and subtropical plants in the botanical gardens of Ukraine, there is an opportunity to significantly expand this list. The Kryvyi Rih Botanical Gardens protected soil collection has 988 taxa. Based on study of plant biology, the collection identifies and identifies species that are appropriate for landscaping metropolitan areas by planting them in portable containers, and some of them directly into the soil as accent plants. When selecting plants for landscaping in the open ground it is important to take into account the features of their stay in the winter in the halls or greenhouses (temperature and light modes).

Botanical biofilters have been proposed as an effective technology for indoor air remediation. Plants, including Sansevieria trifasciata and Chlorophytum comosum, which remove VOCs effectively, can also reduce CO2 emission since S. trifasciata and C. comosum are CAM and C3 plant species, respectively. Therefore, a botanical biofilter using these plants together shows potential for use in contaminated sites. Herein, the potential of this mixed plant botanical biofilter was evaluated as a method of phytoremediation for multi-pollutants from cigarette smoke. The results showed that the combination of S. trifasciata and C. comosum in a botanical biofilter was highly effective in removing VOCs and PM2.5. In addition, this botanical biofilter can also successfully remove formaldehyde, acetone, benzene, and xylene, with low CO2 emission under indoor conditions of moderate light intensity (50 μmole PAR m−2 s−1). The system was also installed in a large volume room (24 m3) to test phytoremediation of multi-pollutants from cigarette smoke. The results showed that this mixed plant botanical biofilter can remediate indoor air pollution effectively under both light and dark conditions continuously for three cycles. The mixed plant botanical biofilter developed showed potential for use in real contamination sites.

A hydroponic experiment was carried out to study the accumulation characteristics of copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) combined pollution in three ornamental plants. The results showed that these tested ornamental plants had higher tolerance to Cu-Pb combined pollution and could effectively accumulate the heavy metals. The Cu and Pb concentrations were higher in the roots of the ornamental plants than that in the shoots. For Panax notoginseng (P. notoginseng), Chlorophytum comosum (C. comosum) and Calendula officinalis (C. officinalis), the average Cu and Pb concentration in the three ornamental plants were 1402.1 mg/kg, 829.5 mg/kg, and 1473.4 mg/kg for Cu and 2710.4 mg/kg, 4250.3 mg/kg, and 4303.6 mg/kg for Pb, respectively. The three ornamental plants accumulation and tolerance to Cu-Pb were demonstrated through the hydroponic-culture method in this study. Therefore, the three ornamental plants should have great potential to be used in remediation of soils contaminated by Cu and Pb and beautifying the environment simultaneously.

Benzene, a hydrophobic xenobiotic, induces cell damage in both humans and plants. Due to its volatilization, benzene is an airborne environmental problem. The potential of an exogenous bioactive brassinosteroid phytohormone to enhance benzene removal for phytoremediation was investigated. Chlorophytum comosum had higher brassinosteroids content under benzene stress. Plant treated with 24-epibrassinolide (EBR) removed significantly more gaseous benzene than untreated plants under both light and dark conditions at an initial benzene of 12.75 μmol in the systematic chambers (P 0.05). Although benzene increased malondialdehyde in plant tissue, EBR-treated plants lowered this lipid peroxidation by enhancing their antioxidant content and increasing benzene detoxification-related genes expression, including ascorbic acid (AsA), homogentisate phytyltransferase (HPT), and glutathione synthethase (GS). This contributed to maintaining higher photosynthetic performances. Moreover, EBR-treated plants had higher gene expression of ferredoxin-NADP reductase (FNR) and glucose-6-phosphate 1-dehydrogenase (G6PDH), thus promoting NADPH biosynthesis to cope with benzene under light and dark conditions, respectively. Further, higher glutathione biosynthesis promoted more glutathione conjugate of benzene products including S-phenylcysteine (SPC) in EBR-treated plants. Hence, application of exogenous EBR as foliar spray provided for enhanced benzene detoxification via antioxidant content, benzene detoxification-related genes and benzene conjugation products with glutathione (GSH) and consequently greater gaseous benzene removal.

Poor indoor quality affects people’s health and well-being. Phytoremediation is one way in which this problem can be tackled, with living walls being a viable option for places with limited space. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of five plant species in a living wall to remove Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and to identify whether the type of pollutant has any influence. An enclosed chamber was used to add the contaminants n-hexane and formaldehyde independently. Total VOCs were measured for three days in two scenarios: (1) empty chamber, and (2) chamber with living wall. Five living walls were prepared, each with three plants of the same species: Spathiphyllum wallisii, Philodendron hederaceum, Ficus pumila, Tradescantia pallida, and Chlorophytum comosum. There was no correlation between leaf area/fresh weight/dry weight and the contaminant reduction. In general, all five species were more efficient in reducing TVOCs when exposed to formaldehyde than to n-hexane. Chlorophytum comosum was the most efficient species in reducing the concentration of TVOCs for both contaminants, Spathiphyllum wallisii being the least efficient by far.

• Microtubule organization and tubulin polymerization in meristematic leaf cells of Chlorophyton comosum treated with an aqueous solution of 1 M mannitol, inducing plasmolysis, were examined with immunofluorescence and transmission electron microscopy. • Hyperosmotic treatment induced disintegration of the interphase microtubule systems. Free tubulin, either liberated from the depolymerized microtubules or pre-existing as a nonassembled pool, was incorporated into a network of paracrystals. In most of the dividing cells, mitotic and cytokinetic microtubule systems were replaced by atypical spindle-like structures displaying bipolarity and atypical phragmoplasts, respectively. These atypical mitotic and cytokinetic structures consisted of large densely packed bundles of macrotubules (32 nm diameter) or macrotubules and paracrystals. Tubulin paracrystals also occurred in ectopic positions in plasmolysed mitotic and cytokinetic cells. Dividing cells displaying paracrystals only did not form atypical mitotic and cytokinetic apparatuses. • Short hyperosmotic stress causes disintegration of all microtubule arrays in dividing cells of C. comosum. Free tubulin is incorporated into macrotubules and tubulin paracrystals. The latter exhibit definite periodicity and characteristic fine structure.

In this study, a new type of ecological floating bed (NT-EFB) employing ornamental plants (either Spathiphyllum floribundum, Hydrocotyle sibthorpioids, Chlorophytum comosum or Peperomia obtusifolia) was designed to purify confected eutrophic water for 39 days. The growth characteristics of the plants and the effect of water treatment were analyzed and compared. The results showed that: (1) all the four ornamental plants examined survived well in the eutrophic water and an increase of plant biomass was observed; (2) the degradation efficiency of TOC by adding plants was about 85.0%; (3) the removal rate of NH4+–N was about 97.0%; (4) all the four plants can be used as floating bed plants to treat eutrophic water and Hydrocotyle sibthorpioids had the best growth characteristics and treatment efficiency. The study provides an adequate reference for the treatment of eutrophication using ecological floating beds.

The increase of both energy demand and pollution makes essential the use of renewable energy. Green electricity production is one of numerous challenges of researches and the target is to obtain an economic clean energy with high performance and no emission of pollutants. Hydrogen fuel cell is an electrochemical process in which chemical energy is transformed into electrical energy. This reaction occurs by using hydrogen. A biological fuel cell is one of numerous types of fuel cell using living organisms to generate electricity. In a microbial fuel cell (MFC) the catalyst is the microorganisms and the most often bacteria. In plant microbial fuel cell (P-MFC), the rhizospheric microorganisms are the catalyst. Plants produce carbohydrates through photosynthesis and feed with rhizodeposits the rhizospheric microorganisms which generate electricity. This paper is a presentation of 2 P-MFC using two different plant species Arundo donax L. and Chlorophytum comosum L in the same experimental conditions. During 43 days we measured the electrical potential produced in Arundo donax-MFC and Chlorophytum comosum-MFC and we compare the 2 P-MFC system to evaluate plant species performances. Results show a different electrical potential for the two plants. The maximum tension registered for Arundo donax L. is +145.2 mV and for Chlorophytum comosum L. is +155.3 mV.

One way to measure the efficacy of a vertical garden is the survival of the plants that cover the growing area, which affects the beauty of a vertical garden. Thus, this research aimed to study the survival of some indoor plant species in with and without air conditioning. We selected plants from 15 families in a total of 20 plant species by review the documents related to the indoor plant and based on duplication of the top 20 plant species, and popular in the market. The study was conducted by incubating in a room with air conditioning (average of temperature and light at 25.6 Celsius and 396.6 Lux, respectively) and without air conditioning (average of temperature and light at 31.9 Celsius and 2,044.1 Lux, respectively), 8 hrs./day average light, watering one time in the initial experiment and noticed the water saturated soil. The survival condition was recorded in 3 levels, namely, the normal condition was 1, the withered condition was 2 and the dead condition was 3. The data was collected for 15 days. The results were 7 species of plants that tolerated both conditioning included asPhilodendron 'Moonlight', Aechmea fasciata, Tradescantia zebrina, Chlorophytum comosum, Dracaena surculosa, Tillandsia usneoides and Nephrolepis cordifolia. There were in Araceae, Commelinaceae, Agavaceae,Neprolepidaceae and Bromeliaceae families.

The genus Chlorophytum includes many economically important species well-known for medicinal, ornamental, and horticultural values. However, to date, few molecular genomic resources have been reported for this genus. Therefore, there is limited knowledge of phylogenetic studies, and the available chloroplast (cp) genome of Chlorophytum (C. rhizopendulum) does not provide enough information on this genus. In this study, we present genomic resources for C. comosum and C. gallabatense, which had lengths of 154,248 and 154,154 base pairs (bp), respectively. They had a pair of inverted repeats (IRa and IRb) of 26,114 and 26,254 bp each in size, separating the large single-copy (LSC) region of 84,004 and 83,686 bp from the small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,016 and 17,960 bp in C. comosum and C. gallabatense, respectively. There were 112 distinct genes in each cp genome, which were comprised of 78 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes, and four rRNA genes. The comparative analysis with five other selected species displayed a generally high level of sequence resemblance in structural organization, gene content, and arrangement. Additionally, the phylogenetic analysis confirmed the previous phylogeny and produced a phylogenetic tree with similar topology. It showed that the Chlorophytum species (C. comosum, C. gallabatense and C. rhizopendulum) were clustered together in the same clade with a closer relationship than other plants to the Anthericum ramosum. This research, therefore, presents valuable records for further molecular evolutionary and phylogenetic studies which help to fill the gap in genomic resources and resolve the taxonomic complexes of the genus.

Inch (Tradescantia zebrina) and spider (Chlorophytum comosum) plants were grown in a growth chamber for two months in plastic containers to evaluate the effects of different light treatments (TO Tube luminescent Dunn (TLD) lamps or control), TB (TLD lamps + blue light emitting diodes (LEDs)), TR (TLD lamps + red LEDs), and TBR (TLD lamps + blue and red LEDs) on biomass, photosynthesis, and physiological parameters. Total dry weight and water content were evaluated at the end of the experimental period. After two months, pigment concentrations and the photosynthetic rate were assessed in both species. The total soluble sugar, starch, and proline concentrations in the leaf as physiological parameters were studied at the end of the experiment. Both species had increased root, shoot, and total dry weight under blue LEDs conditions. The chlorophyll concentration showed a specific response in each species under monochromic or mixed red-blue LEDs. The highest photosynthetic rate was measured under the addition of mixed red-blue LEDs with TLD lamps. At the physiological level, each species triggered different responses with respect to total soluble sugars and the proline concentration in leaves under monochromic or mixed red-blue LEDs. Our study demonstrated that the addition of blue LEDs is advisable for the production of these ornamental foliage species.

Premise A set of polymorphic nuclear microsatellite loci was developed and tested for use in population genetic analyses of Anthericum ramosum (Agavaceae) and related species. Methods and Results Sequences of 110 primers were extracted in silico from Illumina MiSeq genome skimming data. The degree of polymorphism of 19 loci was tested in four A. ramosum populations collected in Central and Eastern Europe. The average number of alleles per loci ranged from two to 17, and levels of observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.000 to 1.000 and from 0.100 to 0.900, respectively. Primers were successfully amplified in the closely related species A. liliago (12 loci) and Chlorophytum comosum (six loci), whereas they mostly failed to amplify in the phylogenetically more‐distant species Muscari comosum (three loci) and M. tenuiflorum (no amplification). Conclusions This newly developed set of polymorphic nuclear microsatellite markers will be useful for population genetic investigation of A. ramosum and closely related species.

This study was performed to determine the effect of plant-endophytic Enterobacter sp. EN2 interactions and blue-red LED light conditions on gaseous benzene removal by plants. It was found that under consecutive benzene fumigation for three cycles (18 days), inoculation of the strain EN2 into sterilized and non-sterilized native C. comosum resulted in significantly increased gaseous benzene removal compared to that in non-inoculated groups under the same light conditions (P 0.05). Remarkably, EN2 colonization in inoculated plants under LED conditions was higher than under fluorescence conditions as the EN2 could grow better under LED conditions. Strain EN2 possesses NADPH that is used to facilitate benzene degradation and modulate plant growth under benzene stress by bacterial IAA production and ACC deaminase activity; higher IAA and lower ethylene levels were found in inoculated plants compared to non-inoculated ones. These contributed to better benzene removal efficiency. Interestingly, under fumigation for 16 cycles (67 days), there was no difference in gaseous benzene removal between inoculated plants and non-inoculated plants under the same light conditions at initial benzene concentrations of 5 ppm. This is probably due to EN2 reaching maximum growth under all treatments. However, C. comosum exhibited better benzene removal under LED conditions than under fluorescence conditions during 16 cycles, possibly due to better photosynthetic performance and plant growth, leading to more NADPH, and eventually enhanced benzene removal efficiency. Hence, the most efficient acceleration of benzene removal was provided by inoculation of strain EN2 onto C. comosum under blue-red LED light conditions.

Botanical biofilters are an interesting technology for indoor air pollution control. However, when growing plants under indoor air conditions with low light intensity (10–50 μmole PAR m−2 s−1), they seem to emit CO2 to the environment. In order to solve this problem, a combination of C3 and CAM plants might be able to decrease the level of CO2 emission and increase pollutant-removal efficiency. Therefore, an effective botanical biofilter with mixed plants was studied. The CO2 emissions from high benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) removal plants including Zamioculcas zamiifolia (facultative CAM), Dracaena sanderiana (C3), Chlorophytum comosum (C3), Euphorbia milii (CAM cycling), Sansevieria kirkii (CAM), and Sansevieria trifasciata (CAM) were investigated. C. comosum and S. trifasciata emitted very low CO2 under both light (50 μmole PAR m−2 s−1) and dark conditions. These two plant species (total leaf area of 500 cm2) were used in the botanical biofilter. The results showed that the botanical biofilter with a mixture of C. comosum and S. trifasciata plants could rapidly remove 1 m3 of 1 ± 0.2 ppm (3.9–4.7 mg m−3) toluene-contaminated air within only 2–3 h. In addition, the mixed plant system also showed low CO2 emission under both light and dark conditions. The combination of C3 and CAM plants offers an alternative method to limit CO2 emissions from a botanical biofilter under low light-intensity conditions.

Self-enhancement effect of potted Chlorophytum comosum on formaldehyde removal from air and its mechanism were investigated by measuring the formaldehyde removal rate and its oxidative potential in leaf extracts with an increase in shoot exposure time. Results showed that the main mechanism of formaldehyde removal by potted C. comosum was the accumulation by plant tissues and the breakdown therein. With a 74-h shoot exposure, 68 and 94% of formaldehyde loss in air were dissipated by plant tissues when the initial level in air was about 1.22 and 2.64 mg m−3. Leaf extracts of C. comosum could effectively dissipate (added) formaldehyde, and the dissipative capability increased with the time of shoot exposure to formaldehyde in air, which corresponded to an increase in oxidative potential of the leaf extracts. By comparing the dissipation capabilities of fresh-leaf and boiled-leaf extracts to added formaldehyde, the redox reaction between oxidative matters in plants and reductive formaldehyde might be the main mechanism on the formaldehyde breakdown in plants. With increasing initial formaldehyde concentration in extracts, the contribution of enzymatic reactions (such as dehydrogenase) to dissipate added formaldehyde decreased sharply, corresponding to an increase in the redox reaction. A burst in ROS (reactive oxygen species) induced by formaldehyde exposure could enhance the capability of C. comosum to remove formaldehyde from air, suggesting that a further increase in formaldehyde removal by plants could be accomplished by increasing the oxidative potential in plant leaves.

The aim of this research was to determine the vinasse irrigation effects on the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) population (total spore abundance (TSA), richness, relative abundance, and diversity indices) and soil parameters and nutrients at high doses. The irrigation of soil with vinasses derived from sugarcane, beet, or alcohol production is a common practice around the world. Little is known about how this affects the AMF community and soil nutrients. The spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum, (Thunb.) Jacques), a mycorrhizable plant, was used to investigate the effect of 4 months of frequent vinasse irrigation (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% vinasse concentration) on AMF and soil characteristics, e.g., electrical conductivity (EC), pH, mineral N, available P, Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+. The vinasse irrigation decreased the TSA, AMF richness and diversity after 4 months, regardless of vinasse concentration. The vinasse irrigation did not acidify the soil, but the EC, mineral N and available P increased. The biomass of C. comosum decreased (77–81%) after vinasse irrigation for 4 months. Frequent irrigation with vinasse at concentrations ≥50% increases EC, K+, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+ and available P in the soil, and decreases the amount of AMF spores, richness and diversity, which is not desirable in agricultural soils.

In the present study, bioelectricity generation using a living plant in soil was achieved by converting solar energy into electricity on the principles of plant photosynthesis. The plants Chlorophy...

The paper studied the absorption of Hg by five common herb species selected, Opuntia stricta , Aloe vera , Setcreasea purpurea , Chlorophytum comosum and Oxalis corniculata , in solution with different levels of mercury. We compared the accumulation of roots and shoots of the plants selected in medium containing different concentrations of mercury. The study was to explore what extent of mercury the five plant species were suitable for absorbing and transferring. The mercury amount uptake by five herb species was tested by CVAAS. The results demonstrated that the effect of different concentrations of mercury on the accumulation condition of roots was greater than that of shoots. There was an ideal Hg concentration for transfer by each plant species. Oxalis corniculata was the most suitable for transferring Hg and was more suitable for repairing soils with Hg at concentrations of less than 500 μg/L.

Aims To characterize causal pathogen of Sansevieria trifasciata anthracnose through morphology and molecular analysis; to evaluate the host range of the pathogen; and to explicate the infection process by the pathogen histopathologically. Methods and results Symptomatic leaves of S. trifasciata were collected from five states in Malaysia. The causal pathogen was isolated and identified for the first time in Malaysia as C. sansevieriae based on morphological and multi-gene phylogenetic analyses using ITS, TUB2 and GAPDH sequences. Pathogenicity tests were conducted on different hosts. Colletotrichum sansevieriae was not pathogenic towards S. cylindrica, S. masoniana, Furcraea foetida, Chlorophytum comosum, Aloe vera and Gasteria carinata, confirming the exceptionally high host specificity for a species of Colletotrichum. Histopathology was performed using light microscope and scanning electron microscopy to study the infection process of C. sansevieriae on S. trifasciata. Colonization of host leaves by the pathogen was observed 2 days after inoculation. Conclusions Colletotrichum sansevieriae caused anthracnose of S. trifasciata in Malaysia. It is a host-specific pathogen and colonized the host intracellularly. Significance and impact of the study This is the first report of C. sansevieriae causing anthracnose of S. trifasciata in Malaysia. The host range test and understanding of the infection process will provide better understanding of the host-pathogen relationship and beneficial for effective disease management.

Gaseous formaldehyde removal efficiency and physiological characteristics of leaves were investigated through a dynamic fumigation system. Three different species of potted Chlorophytum Comosum, (Green Chlorophytum Comosum for its green leaves), CC (Combined the leaves of Chlorophytum Comosum with leaves half green and half white) and PC (Purple Chlorophytum Comosum for its purple leaves), were exposed to formaldehyde for 7 days. The results showed formaldehyde removal efficiencies in the daytime were 71.07% ± 0.23, 84.66% ± 0.19, and 46.73% ± 0.15 at 1 ppm for GC, CC, and GC plants, respectively, and were 36.21% ± 0.24, 62.15% ± 0.19, and 34.97% ± 0.11 at night. This might be due to higher plant physiological activities (e.g., photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration) during the daytime than at night. Ten physiological indicators of leaves were chosen to evaluate the 7-day fumigation process, which were chlorophyll, free protein, relative conductivity, malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl radical, superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC). Eight of these indicators increased, while chlorophyll decreased by 22.16%, 6.95%, and 25.32%, and CAT decreased by 18.9%, 17.8%, and 25.30% for GC, CC, and PC respectively. Among all the increasing physiological indicators, relative conductivity and MDA showed the greatest increase by 279.32% and 155.56% for PC. A 15-day recovery study was also conducted using MDA and T-AOC as indicators. The results showed that all the tested plants could be tolerant up to the 8 ppm of formaldehyde concentration for 7 days under dynamic fumigation and needed 10-15 days for self-recovery.

The present research focuses on the use of Chlorophytum comosum as a bio-indicator able to accumulate, through its leaves, heavy metals present in the aerosol particulate matter (PM) in the city of Milan (Italy). For this purpose, some specimens were exposed in selected sites at the Milan University Campus for increasing periods (7, 30, 60, 128 and 165 days). The collected leaves were then analyzed to quantify Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn concentrations by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP–OES). The leaves’ surfaces were also examined by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersion spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Chlorophytum comosum has proved to be a good system for studying the accumulation of heavy metals. The metals present with the higher concentration were Zn and Mn followed by Cd and Cr while Co, Ni and Pb were present in lower concentration. Although the sites investigated are not very far from each other, differences in the concentration of the heavy metals analyzed were found. Furthermore, in the monitoring period considered (July 2018–December 2018) the plant was a good proxy for tracking the concentration of zinc in Milan’s PM.

This study compared the cadmium phytoextraction efficiency of Chlorophytum comosum and Chlorophytum amaniense, and whether cadmium-resistant bacteria inoculation can enhance plant growth and cadmium uptake. Pot experiments were performed for nine weeks in greenhouse conditions. The results found that C. amaniense had a higher shoot biomass than C. comosum, while the root biomass of C. comosum was higher than that of C. amaniense. Micrococcus sp. MU1 boosted biomass production of C. comosum and C. amaniense under cadmium stress conditions. Cadmium accumulated more in the shoot and root of C. comosum than in C. amaniense. Inoculation of Micrococcus sp., Arthrobacter sp. and co-culture of these bacteria stimulated cadmium content in the shoot and root tissues. However, the highest cadmium extraction amount was found in C. comosum inoculated with Micrococcus sp. due to its higher plant dry weight. In addition, the cadmium phytoextraction efficiency of C. comosum was higher than that of C. amaniense, but the translocation of cadmium from the root to shoot in both plants were not significantly different (p

Nowadays, green synthesis methods have gained growing attention in nanotechnology owning to their versatile features including high efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and eco-friendliness. Here, the aqueous extract of Chlorophytum comosum leaf was applied for the preparation of iron nanoparticles (INPs) to obtain spherical and amorphous INPs with a particle size below 100 nm as confirmed by TEM. The synthesized INPs managed to eliminate methyl orange (MO) from the aqueous solution. The concentration of MO can be easily checked via ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy throughout the usage of INPs at the presence of H2O2. The synthesized INPs exhibited MO degradation efficiency of 77% after 6 h. Furthermore, the synthesized INPs exhibited antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The prepared INPs have an impressive effect on Staphylococcus aureus at concentrations below 6 μg/ml. Overall, the synthesized INPs could considerably contribute to our combat against organic dyes and bacteria.

Along with the growing requirement to reduce building carbon emissions, a need has arisen to find energy efficient means of improving the quality of indoor air. Indoor plants have been shown to be capable of reducing most air pollutants; however, practical numbers of potted plants will not have the capacity to control many forms of air pollution, especially CO2. Green walls are space-efficient means of increasing the density of indoor plants. We assessed an active green wall for its potential to reduce CO2 in chambers and a test room. Chlorophytum comosum and Epipremnum aureum were both effective cultivars for CO2 removal at light densities greater than 50 μmol m−2 s−1. Substrate ventilation increased the rate of CO2 draw down from chambers, possibly due to increased leaf gas exchange rates. Green walls were then tested in a 15.65-m3 sealed simulation room, allowing the calculation of clean air delivery rate (CADR) and air changes per hour (ACH) equivalents based on CO2 draw down. Rates of CO2 draw down were modest under typical brightly lit indoor conditions (50 μmol m−2 s−1); however, when light intensity was increased to relatively bright levels, similar to indoor conditions next to a window or with the addition of supplementary lighting (250 μmol m−2 s−1), a 1-m2 green wall was capable of significant quantifiable reductions of high CO2 concentrations within a sealed room environment. Extrapolating these findings indicates that a 5-m2 green wall containing C. comosum could balance the respiratory emissions of a full-time occupant.

In the present study, eight plant species – Syngonium podophyllum, Sansevieria trifasciata, Euphorbia milii, Chlorophytum comosum, Epipremnum aureum, Dracaena sanderiana, Hedera helix, and Clitoria ternatea were exposed to benzene under hydroponic conditions to evaluate the benzene uptake rates. Among the tested plants, C. comosum showed the highest benzene removal efficiency. However, the results indicated that the removal rates of non-sterilized plants were higher than that of sterilized plants. This variation was due to the different responses of plant associated bacteria. Benzene-resistant bacteria of C. comosum were isolated and characterized. Of the 14 isolated bacteria, results showed that 5 isolates are endophytic bacteria, while 9 isolates are epiphytic bacteria. It was revealed that 1 isolate of endophytic bacteria (EN2), and 2 isolates of epiphytic bacteria (EPL1 and EPR2) had the highest benzene removal efficiencies. These species were identified and designated by 16S rDNA as Enterobacter EN2, Cronobacter EPL1, and Pseudomonas EPR2. Enterobacter EN2 strain efficiently colonized the inoculated plants. A high rate of IAA production and benzene tolerance was found in the plants inoculated with this strain. These findings further elucidated that plant associated bacteria play essential roles in removing benzene from the contaminated system.

Removal rates of benzene and formaldehyde gas by houseplants reported by several laboratories varied by several orders of magnitude. We hypothesized that these variations were caused by differential responses of soil microbial populations to the high levels of pollutant used in the studies, and tested responses to benzene by plants and soils separately. Five houseplant species and tobacco were exposed to benzene under hydroponic conditions and the uptake rates compared. Among the test plants, Syngonium podophyllum and Chlorophytum comosum and Epipremnum aureum had the highest benzene removal rates. The effects of benzene addition on populations of soil bacteria were determined using reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) assays targeting microbial genes involved in benzene degradation. The total bacterial population increased as shown by increases in the levels of eubacteria 16S rRNA, which was significantly higher in the high benzene incubations than in the low benzene incubations. Transcripts (mRNA) of genes encoding phenol monooxygenases, catechol-2,3-dioxygenase and the housekeeping gene rpoB increased in all soils incubated with high benzene concentrations. Therefore the enrichment of soils with benzene gas levels typical of experiments with houseplants in the literature artificially increased the levels of total soil bacterial populations, and especially the levels and activities of benzene-degrading bacteria.

Possibility of use of the information parameters characterizing adaptational and regenerative opportunities of tissue system of an organ as potential criteria for an assessment of biological activity of hepatoprotective preparations is investigated in this research. Influence of enzymatic hydrolyzate of Chlorophytum comosum (L.) on a morphofunctional condition of a liver of rats at experimental toxic damage of organ and in norm was studied. The assessment of morphofunctional condition of a liver under the influence of a preparation was carried out as with use of traditional morphological, biochemical and histologic parameters, and by means of information parameters, which were earlier used for an evaluation of the adaptative and regenerative opportunities of organs of mammals. As a result of research the hepatoprotective effect of enzymatic hydrolyzate of Chlorophytum comosum (L.) is confirmed both by dynamics of change of results of traditional techniques of an assessment and by informational parameters, that allows to draw a conclusion on possibility of use of information parameters as criterion for assesment of effectiveness of biostimulation.

Photosynthetic parameters including net photosynthetic rate (PN), transpiration rate (E), water-use efficiency (WUE), and stomatal conductance (gs) were studied in indoor C3 plants Philodendron domesticum (Pd), Dracaena fragans (Df), Peperomia obtussifolia (Po), Chlorophytum comosum (Cc), and in a CAM plant, Sansevieria trifasciata (St), exposed to various low temperatures (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25°C). All studied plants survived up to 0°C, but only St and Cc endured, while other plants wilted, when the temperature increased back to room temperature (25°C). The PN declined rapidly with the decrease of temperature in all studied plants. St showed the maximum PN of 11.9 μmol m−2 s−1 at 25°C followed by Cc, Po, Pd, and Df. E also followed a trend almost similar to that of PN. St showed minimum E (0.1 mmol m−2 s−1) as compared to other studied C3 plants at 25°C. The E decreased up to ≈4-fold at 5 and 0°C. Furthermore, a considerable decline in WUE was observed under cold stress in all C3 plants, while St showed maximum WUE. Similarly, the gs also declined gradually with the decrease in the temperature in all plants. Among C3 plants, Pd and Po showed the maximum gs of 0.07 mol m−2 s−1 at 25°C followed by Df and Cc. However, St showed the minimum gs that further decreased up to ∼4-fold at 0°C. In addition, the content of photosynthetic pigments [chlorophyll a, b, (a+b), and carotenoids] was varying in all studied plants at 0°C. Our findings clearly indicated the best photosynthetic potential of St compared to other studied plants. This species might be recommended for improving air quality in high-altitude closed environments.

Chlorophytum comosum is a perennial ornamental plant in the family Liliaceae, it is also a valuable medicinal plant. To enrich the genetic resources of C. comosum, its chloroplast genome was determ...

Indoor air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting people in both developed and developing countries. The use of houseplants is one of the emerging methods for abatement of indoor air pollution. Plants can remove indoor air pollutants by stomatal uptake, absorption and adsorption to plant surfaces. Indoor air characteristically contains a large consortium of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as formaldehyde, benzene and toluene. The volatile tested in this study toluene, is commonly found in buildings. The main objective of this project was to find the removal efficiency of toluene by four plant species, Aglaonema spp., Dracaena deremensis, Hedera helix and Chlorophytum comosum. This main goal was achieved by constructing a sealed closed chamber resembling the indoor environment in order to find the activity of selected indoor plants to the indoor air pollutant toluene. The concentration of introduced toluene was measured through gas-chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The possible causes for the differences in removal of toluene among selected plant species were determined by studying leaf morphology, stomatal numbers, plant physiology and growth related parameters. The removal efficiency, expressed on percentage level using toluene peak areas of the GCMS analyses varied among plant species. H. helix had the highest toluene removal percentage per plant over 24 hours (91.1%) followed by D. deremensis (75.0%), A. spp. (60.5%) and C. comosum (47.9%). The study found that stomatal index and stomatal pore length play a key role in VOC removal and that there was a positive relationship between stomatal conductance with toluene removal potential. Based on the results it can be further concluded that thickness of the cuticle is a hindrance to VOC penetration. In addition VOC removal is higher in plants having high photosynthetic rates and there was no relationship of leaf area with the VOC removal capacity. Further studies focusing on screening additional plant species for superior VOC removal efficiencies are warranted. Keywords: Indoor air pollution, Volatile organic compounds, Gas-chromatography Mass spectrometry, Stomatal conductance

Efficient and cost effective technology based solutions helps to achieve prosperity of people on the planet. Good health of the people depend on good air quality. In this paper we propose, Internet of things (IOT) based system to purify air quality using indoor plants. Air purification ability of Sansevieria trifasciata and Chlorophytum comosum plant is analyzed in closed environment. These plants are re-silent and requires very less maintenance. Use of these indoor plants in a office, home purifies air quality. The proposed Internet of Things based study, suggests an inexpensive and green way of having healthier lifestyle. Experimental results of this study concludes that, Sansevieria trifasciata and Chlorophytum comosum plants are effective and very low cost solution to purify indoor air quality.

This research is a trial to demonstrate a range of capacities of some indoor plants to improve indoor airquality (IAQ) through their role in reducing total number of indoor microbiome, besides to improve oxygen content andunipolarity coefficient factor (UCF). Plant materials were Aspidistra elatior; Chlorophytum comosum; Dracaenafragrans; Dracaena marginata; Epipremnum aureus and Syngonium podophyllum. Results revealed that the higherimpact of plants on the molds was shown with Epipremnum aureus plant and the less impact by Dracaena fragransplant. Oxygen percentage and UCF were higher with the presence of indoor plants than those in control treatment.

A study was conducted to examine the low temperature (LT) induced osmatic adjustments and antioxidant properties in indoor plants, viz., Philodendron domesticum, Dracaena fragans, Ficus elastica, Chlorophytum comosum and Sansevieria trifasciata for selecting the best candidate plant to be pot-transplanted in closed environments for oxygen enrichment at high altitude. Contents of glycine betaine (GB) and total soluble sugars (TSS), and ascorbic acid (Asc), a non-enzymatic antioxidant increased under LT stress (~1–4-folds) in all the species as compared to control (25 °C). Among studied plants, S. trifasciata showed greater increase in GB, TSS and Asc contents, respectively at 0 °C. Likewise the contents of total phenol and anthocyanin increased (~1–4-folds) in all the species under LT stress. S. trifasciata showed greater accumulation of total phenol (~2 folds) and anthocyanin contents (~1.5-folds) at 0 °C. Similarly, the activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POX) increased rapidly (~1–557-folds) in all the species studied as compared to control under LT stress. S. trifasciata showed ~206, ~558 and ~18-folds increases in APX, CAT and POX activities, respectively, at 0 °C. Based on the osmolyte adjustment and antioxidant levels under LT stress, S. trifasciata was identified as the most tolerant to low temperature stress, and may be recommended for oxygen enrichment.

A differential pulse polarographic (DPP) method has been used for the indirect determination of Hg(II). With a known amount of cyanuric acid (CA) in polarography cell (B-R buffer, pH 10.5) was added an unknown Hg(II) sample and the Hg(II) concentration is calculated simply from the decrease in the CA peak after reaction with Hg(II). The linear concentration range was between 20 and 120 mu M and limit of detection was calculated to be 6.7 mu M. The proposed method was successfully applied to the dried leave samples belong to C. comosum plant. The method was extended to the indirect determination of mercury(II) in C. comosum plant and results were in agreement with that obtained by a spectrometric comparison method (ICP-MS). The sufficiently good recoveries and low standard deviations reflect the high accuracy of developed method.

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation, antioxidant activity (AOA), chlorophyll fluorescence (F) and organic acid distribution in Chlorophytum comosum and Callisia fragrans plants exposed to artificially added Cd (40, 160 and 320 mg kg−1) were examined in pot experiment. At the highest Cd concentration, C. comosum accumulated in roots and the aboveground parts up to 1331 and 1054 mg Cd kg−1 DW, and C. fragrans up to 1427 and 1263 mg Cd kg−1 DW, respectively, which are quite near at the level of hyperaccumulator. Cd accumulation in both plant species increased significantly with the increment of soil Cd dosage, and the distribution was roots > shoots > stolons. Values of BC showed rising trend indicating an accumulation potential of both species. The root AOA was positively correlated to Cd addition, especially in C. comosum. Higher values of free SA were found in roots with a significant enhancement at concentrations of 40 and 160 mg kg−1 Cd. It was observed that citric acid significantly reacted in both species, while fumaric acid only in C. comosum in response to Cd which may contribute to Cd chelation. Our data indicate that both species are suitable for phytoextraction of Cd from contaminated soils which increases their value as ornamentals.

An investigation was carried out to study the performance of various media and nutrients for three foliage plants viz., arrow head plant (Syngonium podophyllum), boat lily (Tradescantia spathacea) and spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) grown under modular vertical green walls. The experiment comprised of four media viz., coco peat, Greenosil, perlite and vermiculite and their combinations and two nutrients viz., foliar nutrition (NPK 19:19:19 and @ 1% twice (30 and 90 days after planting) and fertilizer stick (Greenstix sticks were inserted to the modular containers @ one per container at 30 and 90 days after planting). Results revealed that, among the media, plants grown under vermiculite showed better performance in exhibiting maximum values for plant height, leaf area, shoot weight, root weight and visual quality in all the three foliage ornamentals. However, among the nutrients, those plants inserted with fertilizer stick (N2) recorded highest for plant height, leaf area, shoot weight, root weight and visual quality in arrow head plant and spider plant. However, maximum values for plant height, leaf area, shoot weight and visual quality in boat lily were recorded under the treatment N1 (Foliar nutrient) except root weight. The interaction between media and nutrients was significant and plants grown under vermiculite and containers inserted with fertilizer stick showed superior performance w.r.t. all the characters in arrow head plant and spider plant, whereas, in boat lily, plants grown under vermiculite and plants sprayed with foliar nutrients showed better results.

This paper studied the effect of Na2S2O3 on accumulation of mercury (Hg) by two common plant species selected, Chlorophytum comosum and Setcreasea purpurea, in medium containing 10 μg L−1 HgCl2. We compared the Hg accumulation in roots, stems and leaves of two plant species in medium with and without Na2S2O3. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of Na2S2O3 on Hg uptake and translocation by C. comosum and S. purpurea. The amount of Hg uptaken by two plant species was determined using cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry. The results demonstrated that Na2S2O3 inhibited the enrichment ability of two plant species selected to some extent.

In order to investigate the effect of absorption and purification of indoor formaldehyde by chlorophytum comosum under normal circumstance, chlorophytum comosum is used as the test material and formaldehyde concentration of different closure time is measured by indoor formaldehyde velocimeter. Absorptive capacity of chlorophytum comosum on indoor formaldehyde is analyzed by comparing formaldehyde concentration. The results of experiment show that taking closure time of 24h as an example formaldehyde concentration changes from 0.41 mg/m3 to 0.32 mg/m3 and the removal rate is 21.95% in the room of 15 square meters ,and absorption effect of chlorophytum comosum is good for indoor formaldehyde. Combined with the actual situation chlorophytum comosum can be used in the room place and decorative materials with less formaldehyde content are chosen ,and indoor temperature and humidity remain appropriate to purify indoor formaldehyde by combining with the ventilation method.

Higher plants, including spider plants, are able to take up and degrade/detoxify various pollutants in the air. Although nearly 120 plant species have been tested for indoor air phytoremediation, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, data on particulate matter (PM) phytoremediation from indoor air are not yet available in literature. This work determined the ability of spider plants to take up PM, one of the most harmful pollutants to man, in the indoor air of five rooms housing different activities (a dental clinic, a perfume-bottling room, a suburban house, an apartment and an office). It was found that spider plants accumulate PM of both categories (water washable and trapped in waxes) and in all three size fractions determined and that the amount differed depending on the type of activity taking place in the particular rooms ranging from 13.62 to 19.79 μg/cm2. The amount of wax deposited on the leaves of plants grown in these rooms also differed (34.46–72.97 μg/cm2). The results of this study also demonstrated that the amount of PM accumulated on aluminium plates was always significantly lower than that accumulated on the plants’ leaves, showing that more than simply gravity forces are involved in PM accumulation on leaf blades.