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Life Science Archives (LSA)

ISSN: 2454-1354
Volume 1; Issue - 3; Year 2015; Page: 200 - 203

Research Article

A DETAILED STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF AIR POLLUTION ON

CERTAIN PHYSICAL AND BIO CHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF
Mangifera indica PLANT
V. Seshadri1, C. Sivasubramanian1, P. Satheeshkumar1, M. Jeganathan2 and Balakumari2
1

Department of Environmental and Herbal Science, Tamil University, Thanjavur - 613 010, Tamil Nadu,
India
2
Designed Environment Academy and Research Institute, Trichy - 621 213, Tamil Nadu, India.
E.mail: jegann1978@gmail.com

Abstract
The alleviation measures to control CKD pollution at the sources are limited by economic, political
and technical implications beyond the control of most agriculturists. So they are entrusted to grow their crop
in an atmosphere containing certain levels of ambient particulate pollutants. Since the crop selected in the
present study is the top most economically important crop, it is desirable to investigate them in the polluted
environment. Hence, the tolerant crop selected among the plants growing in the cement dust affected area is
Mangifera indica. The chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoid levels of the sampled
plants were estimated. The amount of total chlorophyll in affected leaves was 4.9996 mg/g and that of
control leaves was 5.7220 mg/g.
Key words: Air pollution, Mangifera indica,
Article History
Received : 16.04.2015
Physical parameters and Biochemical parameters.
Revised : 23.05.2015
Accepted : 27.05.2015
1. Introduction

The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the

genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical
fruiting trees in
the flowering
plant family
Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to South Asia,
from where it has been distributed worldwide to
become one of the most cultivated fruits in the tropics.
While other Mangifera species (e.g. horse mango, M.
foetida) are also grown on a more localized
basis, Mangifera indica the 'common mango' or
'Indian mango' is the only mango tree commonly
cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. It
is the national fruit of India, Philippines and Pakistan.
* Corresponding author: V. Seshadri, Department of
Environmental and Herbal Science, Tamil University,
Thanjavur

In several cultures, its fruit and leaves are ritually used

as floral decorations at weddings, public celebrations
and religious ceremonies.

The TANCEM Cement Industry is located

at Ariylaur District, Tamil Nadu and situated 250
km South East of Madras and 65 km North East
of Trichy. Ariyalur is known for limestone bed
rocks of cretaceous period (Chandrasekaran and
Ramkumar, 1994). The raw material for the
cement production, limestone is mined in the
locality of TANCEM Ariyalur which covers an
area of 2325 sq.km (Edwin Chandrasekaran et al.,
1995). Different marks of cement have been
produced in this plant with a total volume of
output 5 lakhs tonnes during the period when our
investigation was carried out. The plantation is

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V. Seshadri / Life Science Archives (LSA), Volume 1, Issue 3, Page 200 to 203, 2015
located at a distance of 3 km. towards South from
the cement dust emission source. The continuous
dust fallout from TANCEM cement plant results
in the deposition of cement kiln exhaust on
Mangifera indica in this plantation during mid
October to end of December(2014). The control
plots are situated on the relatively unpolluted area
at a distance of 15 km (Kadukur) towards east of
main cement manufacturing plant.
2. Materials and Method
Cement kiln exhaust in the form of dust
emission settle on the soil and vegetation
surrounding the cement factory and causes
pollution problems.
Plant Materials
Mangifera indica growing around the
TANCEM cement plant Ariyalur are constantly
subjected to the deposition of cement kiln
exhausts. The control plants are situated on the
relatively unpolluted area (Kadukur).
Estimation of Chlorophyll
Arnon (1949) methodology was used to
estimate the chlorophyll contents. Leaf tissue
weighing 200 mg of the controlled and affected
leaves was homogenized in 80 % pre chilled
acetone in diffused light using a mortar & pestle.
The pellet was homogenized once again in acetone
and centrifuged the process was repeated until the
pellet turned non-green. The supernatants were
pooled and the volume was measured, and the
absorption at 663 nm and 645 nm were read on a
spectrophotometer. The amount of chlorophyll
was calculated. The amount of chlorophyll present
in the leaf extract in mg chlorophyll tissue was
calculated using following equations.
mg chlorophyll a/g tissue = 12.7 (A663) 2.69 (A645) V/(1000 w)
mg chlorophyll b/g tissue = 22.9 (A645) 4.68 (A663) V/(1000 w)
mg chlorophyll total time = 20.2 (A645) +
8.02 (A663) V/(1000 w)
Where,
A = Absorbance at specific wave lengths
V = Final volume of chlorophyll extract in
80% acetone
w = fresh weight of the tissue extracted.

201

Carotenoid analysis
The total carotenoid content was also
measured from the previous extractions of
chlorophylls at 473 nm using an extinction coefficient value of 2500 as an average value,
(OD645) (0.114), (OD663) (0.638) (Goodwin
1954).
Analysis of plant extract
The given plant samples were extracted
analyzed different components present in the
extract with Soil testing laboratory (Using High
perform liquid chromatography).
Principle
and
application
of
Gas
chromatograph-Mass detector (GC-MS) in
Phyto-chemical analysis
GC-MS plays a key role in the analysis of
unknown components of plant origin. GC-MS
Ionizes compounds and measures their mass
numbers. Ionization method includes EI (Electron
Ionization) and CI (Chemical Ionization).
Typically, the CI method is used. The EI method
produces ions by colliding thermal electrons
emitted from a filament with sample gas
molecules. This method provides high stability in
ionization and the obtained mass spectra show
good reproducibility. The EI method provides
good results for quantitative analysis as well.
Quantization with GC-MS, in which only ions
specific to the compounds are measured, is highly
selective method without interfering components.
3. Result and Discussion
The tolerant crop selected among the
plants growing in the cement dust affected area is
Mangifera indica. The chlorophyll a, chlorophyll
b, total chlorophyll and carotenoid levels of the
sampled plants were estimated and the results are
tabulated in Table 1 The amount of total
chlorophyll in affected leaves was 4.9996 mg/g
and that of control leaves was 5.7220 mg/g.
Similarly
in
the
various
biochemical components of the control and
affected leaves of Mangifera indica was tabulated.
Marked change is seen in the total phosphorus,
total sulphur, total alkaloids & tannin content. A
marked increase is seen in the content of total
calcium, sodium, zinc & copper content.

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V. Seshadri / Life Science Archives (LSA), Volume 1, Issue 3, Page 200 to 203, 2015

Chlorophyll b
(mg/g)

Total
Chlorophyll
(mg/g)

Carotenoids
(g/lit)

Control
leaf
Affected
leaf

Chlorophyll a
(mg/g)

Samples

Table 1: Chlorophyll Estimation

1.9003

3.8214

5.7220

2.3262

1.3184

3.6812

4.9996

2.4118

Table 2: Biochemical analysis of Control &

Affected leaves
S.
No
1.
2.
3.
4
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21
22.

Name of the
parameter
Ash (%)
Organic Carbon (%)
Total Nitrogen (%)
Total Phosphorus (%)
Total Potassium (%)
Total Sodium (%)
Total Calcium (%)
Total Magnesium (%)
Total Sulphur (%)
Total Zinc (ppm)
Total Copper (ppm)
Total Iron (ppm)
Total Manganese
(ppm)
Total Boron (ppm)
Total Molybenum
(ppm)
Total Alkaloids (mg
kg-1)
Total flavonoids (mg
kg-1)
Tannin (mg kg-1)
Lignin (mg kg-1)
Glycosides (mg kg-1)
Serpentines (mg kg-1)
Heavy Metals

Sample Details
Mangifera indica
Affected Control
2.08
2.19
3.19
2.18
0.89
0.87
0.25
0.31
2.79
2.54
0.12
0.09
3.42
3.01
1.92
1.61
0.12
0.15
2.79
2.48
0.19
0.16
16.78
19.49
4.29
4.19
0.06
0.02

0.04
0.02

0.58

0.64

0.15

0.19

0.29
0.15
0.09
0.06
Nil

0.34
0.19
0.09
0.06
Nil

Fly ash comprises divided particles of ash

entrained in flue gases arising from combustion of
coal. The size of fly ash particles may vary from
0.02 m to over 300 m. It contains incompletely
burned coal and the carbon content of fly ash may
vary from 5 to 20%, though some samples may
contain as high as 50%. Also a large number of

202

minerals, originally present in the coal, may also

occur in fly ash (Thangarasu,2002).
Cement manufacturing industries have
found to contribute substantially to the air
pollution problem as point source of emission.
Fallout of cement factory emission is determined
by several factors. Such as variations in cement
manufacturing process, efficiency of emission
control devices, and meteorological and
topographical conditions, vegetation and soil are
also important sinks for air borne pollutants. In
India, high dust fall rates around cement factories
have been reported by several workers (Agarwal,
1997).
Considering the fast companion of the
cement manufacturing industries in the country
and limited information available about the
temporal variations in particulate matter an
attempt has been made to evaluate the spatial and
temporal variations in concentration of particulate
matter around a cement factory situated in a
seasonally dry typical area.
Fly ash is a fairly stable pollutant and it
accumulates in the environment through
deposition on surfaces of materials and plants. It
reduces the visibility in the atmosphere absorbs
and scatters light, and reduces the quantum of
solar radiations reaching the plants. Fly ash may
affect vegetation directly through deposition on
leaf surfaces and indirectly through accumulation
in the soil medium.
Plants play an important role in monitoring
the ecological balance by actively participating in
the cycling of nutrients, gases and fly ash.
Sensitivity of plants to air pollutant is variable. Air
pollution effects on plants have been known as a
number of morphologhical and anatomical studies
(Chaudhari, 2000; Chaudhari, 1984; Tiwari, 1993;
Roa, 1975; Bechula, 1980; Parthasarathy. 1975;
Singh, 2002).
On
comparing
the
biochemical
compounds of the leaf material of Mangifera
indica grown in control & affected area, it is very
clear that the chlorophyll content a, b total
chlorophyll and carotenoid content have got
reduced due to the deposition of the particulate
matter emitted from the cement plant. Further it is
very clear that the dust has added the calcium &
sodium to a considerable extent in the affected

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V. Seshadri / Life Science Archives (LSA), Volume 1, Issue 3, Page 200 to 203, 2015
leave, which is also due to the nature and chemical
composition of the cement. Thus it is true
effective measures if not taken towards the
reduction of pollution in terms of dust; it will not
only affect the plant species but also the living
organisms. Hence, the following suggestions are
given with the aim of reducing the dust pollution.
4. Conclusion
Ariyalur, known as cement city is
surrounded by cement factories and limestone
mines. These act as the sources of dust and
particulates in and around the living place. To
know about the extent of dust pollution, a
common plant Mangifera indica was found to be
one of the plants which are higher in number. The
chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, and
carotenoid content of the leaves have found to
decrease in the leaves of the plant grown in areas
exposed to dust when compared with control
plant, grown in unpolluted areas.
Similarly, the other components such as
calcium, sodium, manganese magnesium, zinc got
increased in the affected plant. Certain parameters
such as alkaloids, flavonoids, tannin, lignin have
got decreased in its quantity in case of affected
plant. Thus, the effect of the cement dust on one of
the commonest plant Mangifera indica has been
studied. It is clear that the cement dust affects
certain biochemical components.

203

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7) Parthasarathy, S. A., N. Arunachalam, K.
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