Investigation of some morphological and physiological characteristics of Cyperus. alternifolius, Chrysopogon zizanioide and Aloe vera irrigated with urban wastewater

Phytoremediation is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method to remove heavy metals from contaminated soil and the environment and choosing the right plant for phytoremediation is important considering the increasing expansion of urban wastewater. In this regard, an experiment was conducted in the form of a completely randomized design with three replications for 14 months at Guilan University. In this study, the accumulation index of metals (MAI) including zinc, chromium, lead, copper, manganese, nickel, and magnesium was measured in three plants of Cyperus alternifolius L., Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Roberty and Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f. treated with urban wastewater, and some of their morphological and physiological characteristics were compared. The results showed that under urban wastewater treatment, the MAI in C. zizanioides and A. vera was higher than in C. alternifolius. In all three studied plants, the indices of root length, shoot length, total biomass, uptake index (UI), and tolerance index (TI) were significantly reduced compared to the control plant, and A. vera had the highest percentage of reduction. Also, the highest percentage of increase in total soluble sugar, total phenol, total flavonoid, total anthocyanin, total tannin, and DPPH radical-scavenging percentage was observed in C. zizanioides. Therefore, it can be said that C. zizanioide was more successful in terms of metal accumulation and morphological and physiological characteristic