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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
The species of Azolla (Water fern) are small, delicate, moss- like plants with fragile rhizomes covered by crowded overlapping leaves. They are highly productive plants that double their biomass in 3–10 days. They form an endo symbiotic relationship with the diazotrophic cyanobacterium Anabaena azollae, which fixes atmospheric nitrogen, giving the plant access to the essential nutrient. They seem to be an excellent candidate for removal, disposal, and recovery of heavy metals from the polluted aquatic ecosystems. In the present investigation the effect of four different heavy metals viz. Lead, Cadmium, Mercury and Zinc on the biochemical profile of Azolla filiculoides was studied. It was observed that the heavy metals viz. Pb, Cd, Hg and Zn greatly influenced the total sugar and protein contents of Azolla filiculoides. However, the biochemical profile of A. filiculoides depended upon the nature and concentration of heavy metals. All the four heavy metals caused a great reduction in soluble sugar, reducing sugar, amylolytic activity, α amylase activity, total nitrogen content, protein content and increased free amino acids.