THE EFFECT OF AIR POLLUTION ON SOME BIOCHEMICAL FACTORS OF SOME PLANT SPECIES GROWING IN HYDERABAD

Abstract

In the current research  the Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) of  Nineteen plant species is found among which four plants are herbs, five  are shrubs and remaining are trees. All these plants are growing in highly polluted areas of Hyderabad .The physiological and biochemical parameters ,which are relative to leaf’s water content(RWC) ,ascorbic acid content (AA),total leaf chlorophyll(TCH) and leaf extract PH were used to compute the APTI values.On the basis of APTI values, Acalypha indica ,Euphorbia hirta, among herbs, Ricinus communis, Gossypium herbaceum among shrubs, Azadiricta indica, Ficus bengalensis showed tolerance, these plants serve as suitable sinks to survive the air pollution and the other plant species Vinca rosea,Calotropis gigantea, Pithecalobium dulce act as bio-indicators of air pollution stress as these are intolerant to the air pollution.