Zinc and cadmium tolerance of Hyssopus officinalis L. and Satureja montana L. plants

Removal of cadmium and zinc at increasing concentrations from an artificially contaminated substrate by the Mediterranean plants Hyssopus officinalis L. and Satureja montana L. is described. The effect of the addition of a chelator such as citric acid was also evaluated. Plant growth was monitored for three months after metal addiction. Total metal uptake was determined by ICP-OES measurements on samples harvested at 30, 60 and 90 days. Hyssopus and Satureja seemed to be tolerant to both cadmium and zinc: progressive metal accumulation vs. time and a significant metal translocation to the upper parts were observed. The biological accumulation coefficients (BAC) were also estimated for both cadmium and zinc. Overall, our data suggest that both plants show a good phytoremediation potential.