EVALUATION OF COMPARATIVE SCAVENGING EFFICIENCY OF IN VITRO GROWN OCIMUM TENUIFLORUM (TULSI) FOR COPPER AND LEAD USING ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY

Abstract

The comparative concentrations of Copper and Lead scavenged by in vitro grown Ocimum tenuiflorum were estimated with respect to its in vivo grown counterparts using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy.In vitro plants were grown on 2.5 mg/l 2, 4-D in MS basal medium. Both these elements were estimated from the bioassays of both in vitro and field grown plants. In vitro
grown Ocimum tenuiflorum showed lesser amount of both these elements as compared to field grown plants. Due to lesser amount of the elements in in vitro plant bodies, we claim that these plantlets in future could be able to extract more amount of heavy metals, when grown in industrially contaminated soils on a wider scale, proving them better phytoremediates.