MERCURY BIOACCUMULATION FROM CONTAMINATED SOIL USING JATROPHA CURCAS WITH APPLICATION ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZA FUNGI

• Main Author: Saputra, Rendana
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/71044
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The use of amalgamation process in gold-mine often results in gold-mine tailings containing high concentration of mercury. Further, the tailings usually contaminate the soil resulting a polluted soil. This case occurs frequently in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM). One method to reduce the concentration of mercury in the polluted soil is through conducting phytoremediation process, e.g. using Jatropha curcas. Jatropha curcas is a type of plant which can be easily found in topical areas and known to be able to absorb high metal concentration or metals hyper-accumulator. Gold mine tailings contain heavy metal contaminants which inhibit plant growth due to lower nutrition, however the application of mycorrhizal arbuscular plants can increase the nutrients intake. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of mycorrhizal arbuscular plants in phytoremediation with Jatropha curcas plant in a Hg polluted soil. The study was conducted in a greenhouse by inoculating two arbuscular mycorrhizal isolates (Glomus aggregatum and Glomus etunicatum) with the addition of pure and mixed cultures to fifteen Jatropha curcas plants aged two months. The growth parameter was the dry weight of Jatropha curcas and was measured at week eight. The data showed that there were some effects of mycorrhizal arbuscular plants to the dry weight of Jatropha curcas. The result of the Duncan's Test presented that G. aggregatum inoculation was significantly different compared to the other treatments, whereas G. etunicatum inoculation in a pure and mixed cultures did not show a significant difference in the dry weight of the Jatropha curcas. The mercury concentration in G. aggregatum, G. etunicatum, and mixed culture showed an viii increase of 250%, 39% and 170% in the plants’ mercury accumulation. The plants which were inoculated with G. eunicatum and G. agregatum had longer and more branched roots compared to the plants given the control treatment. In conclusion, this study proved that arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation had an effect on the dry weight and increased the mercury accumulation in Jatropha curcas.