Investigating the Potential Response of Jute Varieties for Phytoremediation of Arsenic Contaminated Soil

A pot experiment was carried out in the green house of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI), Dhaka to study the response of jute (Corchorus capsularies and Corchorus olitorius) to the accumulation of As from soil to plants when various rates of As were applied. In the experiment, four treatments of arsenic (control, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg) were applied. The salt sodium meta-arsenite (NaAsO2) was used as a source of As. Three jute varieties of CVL-1, 0-9897 and OM-1 were used. CVL-1 variety is As sensitive whereas the 0-9897 and OM-1 varieties appeared to be As tolerant and OM-1 takes up the highest amount of As. Arsenic will be ingested into the body exceeding the maximum allowable daily limit (0.22mg/kg per day) through the consumption of 100g of jute leaves of these three varieties per day. Accumulation of As at 10 and 40 mg/kg treatment, the maximum was observed at 52 days harvest for CVL-1 while for the other two treatments, the maximum was observed at 42 days of growth. In the case of 0-9897 and OM-1 varieties, overall the maximum accumulation of As was observed at 42 days of growth at 40 mg/kg treatment.