Air pollution tolerance index of selected plants in Vijayawada city, Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

Introduction: Vijayawada is the major city with high population of Andhra Pradesh state and is highly recognized for its culture and religious heritage. Since the city is on fast-track development, pollution has been affecting its environment considerably. Screening of plants for their sensitivity/ tolerance levels to air pollution is important because the sensitive plants can serve as bioindicator and tolerant plants as a sink for controlling air pollution in urban and industrial areas. Aim: The present work determines the air pollution tolerance index (APTI) and certain biochemical properties of tree species commonly available in Vijayawada city. Results and Discussions: In this study, four physiological and biochemical parameters, namely, relative leaf water content, ascorbic acid content (AA), total leaf chlorophyll, and leaf extract pH were used to compute the APTI values of seven medicinal and five fruit species. The decreasing order of APTI values these plant species was found to be Syzygium cumini>Carica papaya>Aegle marmelos>Psidium guajava>Vitex negundo>Artocarpus heterophyllus>Bauhinia variegata>Emblica officinalis>Punica granatum>Phyllanthus acidus>Prosopis cineraria>A. marmelos>Manilkara zapota. Conclusions: The results of present study are therefore useful for future planning and may be helpful to bring out possible control measures in air pollution.