Arsenic effects on some photophysical parameters of Cichorium intybus under different radiation and water irrigation regimes

CORDON, GABRIELA; IRIEL, ANALIA; CIRELLI, ALICIA FERNÁNDEZ; LAGORIO, M. GABRIELA

CHEMOSPHERE

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2018 vol. 204 p. 398 - 404

0045-6535

The presence of arsenic (As) in groundwater is a major problem in several parts of Latin America. In thepresent work, non-destructive approaches to monitor the effects of As on plants of Cichorium intybus, anherbaceous Asteraceae, were explored. In this sense, the effects of As at different levels of water andradiation were evaluated on these crops. Plants were grown in a greenhouse, watered daily with Assolutions and exposed to different water and/or light conditions for four months, using a three-factor (As,water, radiation) and two-level resource (As vs non As, field capacity vs half-field capacity condition, lightvs shade condition) factorial design. The parameters most affected by this treatment were the area underthe first derivative of the reflectance spectrum in the blue region, chlorophyll concentration, the Fred/Ffarredfluorescence ratio and the quantum yield for the photophysical decay. These changes indicated theability of this plant species to be a biomonitor for the presence of arsenic in irrigation water. Interestingly,it was further proved in this work that the biomonitoring capacity was enhanced in the presence ofsunlight.