Cadmium Uptake and Growth Responses of Seven Urban Flowering Plants: Hyperaccumulator or Bioindicator?

The application of flowering plants is the basis of urban forest construction. A newly-found flowering hyperaccumulator is crucial for remediating urban contaminated soil sustainably by cadmium (Cd). This study evaluated growth responses, Cd uptake and bioaccumulation characteristics of seven urban flowering plants. Based on growth responses of these plants, Calendula officinalis L. showed high tolerance to at least 100 mg kg−1 Cd, in terms of significant increase in biomass and with no obvious changes in height. After 60 d exposure to 100 mg kg−1 Cd, the accumulated Cd in shoots of the plant reached 279.51 ± 13.67 μg g−1 DW, which is above the critical value defined for a hyperaccumulator (100 μg g−1 DW for Cd). Meanwhile, the plant could accumulate Cd to as much as 926.68 ± 29.11 μg g−1 DW in root and 1206.19 ± 23.06 μg g−1 DW in plant, and had higher Cd uptake and bioaccumulation values. According to these traits, it is shown that Calendula officinalis L. can become a potential Cd-hyperaccumulator for phytoremediation. By contrast, Dianthus caryophyllus L. is very sensitive to Cd stress in terms of significantly decreased biomass, height and Cd uptake, indicating the plant is considered as a Cd-bioindicator.

Wpływ temperatury wody i czasu parzenia na właściwości antyoksydacyjne naparów z nagietka lekarskiego (Calendula officinalis L.)

W przeprowadzonych badaniach wykazano wpływ temperatury wody i czasu parzenia na zawartość polifenoli oraz aktywność antyoksydacyjną naparów z kwiatów języczkowych nagietka lekarskiego (Calendula officinalis L.). Wszystkie badane próbki charakteryzowały się niskimi właściwościami antyoksydacyjnymi. Czas parzenia oraz temperatura wody wpły-wały na zawartość polifenoli i właściwości antyoksydacyjne naparów. Aby uzyskać napar z suszonych kwiatów języczkowych z nagietka o najwyższej zawartości polifenoli, należy parzyć je przez 10 minut, przy użyciu wody o temperaturze 80°C. Najwyższą zdolność do zmiatania rodnika DPPH uzyskał napar sporządzony w najwyższej temperaturze 100°C, po 10 minutach parzenia. Otrzymane wyniki wskazują na potencjalną możliwość wykorzystania tego surowca do produkcji naparów herbacianych.

The chemical composition of two kinds of grape juice with medicinal plant addition

The safety of plant-based food with an herbal origin is a priority for producers and final consumers these days. The interest in the high biological value of the final food products enriched with herbal ingredients is rising. We focused on the study of physico-chemical composition and antioxidant activity of two kinds of grape juice with medicinal plant addition in our study. We used 2 varieties of grapes - Welschriesling and Cabernet Sauvignon, six species of medicinal plants - Calendula officinalis L., Ginkgo biloba, Thymus serpyllum, Matricaria recutita, Salvia officinalis L., and Mentha aquatica var. citrata in our experiment. There were14 samples prepared, two of them were control samples and 12 samples were treated with medicinal plants. We tested each of the selected parameters triplicate with an interval of one week. We evaluated the results statistically in 4 levels of significance p <0,01, p <0,001, p <0,0001 and p <0,00001. The content of fructose, glucose, dry matter, density, malic acid, pH, potential alcohol, total acids, and total sugars in the treated samples was significantly lower compared to the control sample, which was probably due to the degree of dilution of grape juice with extracts gained from medicinal plants. The antioxidant effect was demonstrably higher in the samples enriched with medicinal plants than in the control samples. The highest antioxidant effect was measured in the second test in the samples with the addition of Thymus serpyllum (80.93 % - white grape must, 82.33 % - blue grape must), Calendula officinalis L. (79.29 % - white grape must, 80.49 % - blue grape must) and Ginkgo biloba (79.10 % - white grape must, 83.3 % - blue grape must). Generally, we found out that the selected medicinal plants increase the biological quality of grape juice.