Phytoremediation of nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants from glass industry effluent by using water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms): Application of RSM and ANN techniques for experimental optimization.

The present study aimed to assess the efficiency of the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms) plant for the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants from glass industry effluent (GIE) as batch mode phytoremediation experiments. For this, response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural networks (ANN) methods were adopted to evidence the optimization and prediction performances of E. crassipes for total Kjeldahl's nitrogen (TKN) and total phosphorus (TP) removal. The control parameters, i.e., GIE concentration (0, 50, and 100%) and plant density (1, 3, and 5 numbers) were used to optimize the best reduction conditions of TKN and TP. A quadratic model of RSM and feed-forward backpropagation algorithm-based logistic model (input layer: 2 neurons, hidden layer: 10 neurons, and output layer: 1 neuron) of ANN showed good fitness results for experimental optimization. Optimization results showed that maximum reduction of TKN (93.86%) and TP (87.43%) was achieved by using 60% of GIE concentration and nearly five plants. However, coefficient of determination (R2) values showed that ANN models (TKN: 0.9980; TP: 0.9899) were superior in terms of prediction performance as compared to RSM (TKN: 0.9888; TP: 0.9868). Therefore, the findings of this study concluded that E. crassipes can be effectively used to remediate nitrogen and phosphorus loads of GIE and minimize environmental hazards caused by its unsafe disposal.

Foliar use of TiO2-nanoparticles for okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) cultivation on sewage sludge-amended soils: biochemical response and heavy metal accumulation.

Considering its richness in organic and inorganic mineral nutrients, the recycling of sewage sludge (SS) is highly considered as a soil supplement in agriculture. However, the fate of hazardous heavy metal accumulation in the crops cultivated in SS amended soils is always a source of concern. Since nanoparticles are widely recognized to reduce heavy metal uptake by crop plants; thus, the present experiment deals with okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) cultivation under the combined application of SS and TiO2-nanoparticles (NPs). Triplicated pot experiments were conducted using different doses of SS and TiO2-NPs such as 0 g/kg SS (control), 50 g/kg SS, 50 g/kg SS + TiO2, 100 g/kg SS, and 100 g/kg SS + TiO2, respectively. The findings of this study indicated that among the doses of treatment combinations investigated, 100 g/kg SS + TiO2 showed a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the okra plant yield (287.87 ± 4.06 g/plant) and other biochemical parameters such as fruit length (13.97 ± 0.54 cm), plant height (75.05 ± 3.18 cm), superoxide dismutase (SOD: 110.68 ± 3.11 µ/mg), catalase (CAT: 81.32 ± 3.52 µ/mg), and chlorophyll content (3.12 ± 0.05 mg/g fwt.). Also, the maximum contents of six heavy metals in the soil and cultivated okra plant tissues (fruit, stem, and root regions) followed the order of Fe > Mn > Cu > Zn > Cr > Cd using the same treatment. Bioaccumulation and health risk assessment indicated that foliar application of TiO2-NPs significantly reduced the fate of heavy metal accumulation under higher doses of SS application. Therefore, the findings of this study suggested that the combined use of SS and TiO2-NPs may be useful in ameliorating the negative consequences of heavy metal accumulation in cultivated okra crops.

Evaluation of the Phytochemical and Pharmacological Potential of Taif's Rose (Rosa damascena Mill var. trigintipetala) for Possible Recycling of Pruning Wastes.

This study investigated the phytochemical contents of Taif's rose pruning wastes and their potential application as phytomedicine, thereby practicing a waste-recycling perspective. In the Al-Shafa highland, four Taif rose farms of various ages were chosen for gathering the pruning wastes (leaves and stems) for phytochemical and pharmacological studies. The leaves and stems included significant amounts of carbohydrates, cardiac glycosides, alkaloids, flavonoids, and other phenolic compounds. The cardiac glycoside and flavonoid contents were higher in Taif rose stems, while the phenolic and alkaloid contents were higher in the plant leaves. Cardiovascular glycosides (2.98-5.69 mg g-1), phenolics (3.14-12.41 mg GAE g-1), flavonoids (5.09-9.33 mg RUE g -1), and alkaloids (3.22-10.96 mg AE g-1) were among the phytoconstituents found in rose tissues. According to the HPLC analysis of the phenolic compounds, Taif's rose contains flavonoid components such as luteolin, apigenin, quercetin, rutin, kaempferol, and chrysoeriol; phenolics such as ellagic acid, catechol, resorcinol, gallic acid, and phloroglucinol; alkaloids such as berbamine, jatrorrhizine, palmatine, reticuline, isocorydine, and boldine. Warm water extract was highly effective against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Proteus vulgaris, whereas methanol and cold water extracts were moderately effective against Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans. The study's findings suggested that Taif's rose wastes could be used for varied medical purposes.

Modeling of mineral elements uptake and localization in cabbage inflorescence (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) grown on sugar mill pressmud-amended soils.

Sugar mill pressmud is highly considered and used as a supplement to improve soil fertility and crop yield, especially in India. This study investigated the growth and yield performance of cultivated cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) on sugar mill pressmud amended soil. Pot experiments were performed using various pressmud amendment rates (0, 50, 100, and 150 g/kg soil) to study the fertilization impact on cabbage inflorescence yield (g) and size (diameter: cm). Moreover, mineral element (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) accumulation in the cabbage inflorescence was also studied using a modified polynomial non-linear model. Results showed that the sugar mill pressmud had significantly (p < 0.05) higher nutrient elements which induced their concentration in the soil after mixing. Also, the highest yield (849.25 ± 7.47 g), size (15.10 ± 1.50 cm diameter), and dry weight (42.13 g) of cabbage inflorescence were attained using 100 g/kg pressmud treatment with a maximum significant (p < 0.05) accumulation of mineral elements. However, the highest accumulation of mineral elements was observed in the outer zones (Z1 and Z2) of leafy inflorescence as compared to inner zones (Z3 and Z4), respectively. The mineral elements in both outer and inner zones of cabbage followed an order of Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu > Cr > Zn. Furthermore, the developed modified polynomial quadratic model precisely predicted the total mineral element uptake (mg dwt.) by cabbage inflorescence. The models had good fitness as described by the coefficient of determination (R2 > 0.992) values. This study suggested that sugar mill pressmud was a promising resource for cabbage cultivation, and the developed models were helpful in the precise prediction of mineral elements accumulated by its inflorescence.