Assessment of sunflower germplasm forphytoremediation of lead-polluted soil andproduction of seed oil and seed meal for human andanimal consumption

Phytoremediation is a valuable technology for mitigating soil contamination inagricultural lands, but phytoremediation without economic revenue is unfeasible forland owners and farmers. The use of crops with high biomass and bioenergy forphytoremediation is a unique strategy to derive supplementary benefits along withremediation activities. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is a high-biomass crop that canbe used for the phytoremediation of polluted lands with additional advantages(biomass and oil). In this study, 40 germplasms of sunflower were screened in fieldconditions for phytoremediation with the possibility for oil and meal production. Thestudy was carried out to the physiological maturity stage. All studied germplasmsmopped up substantial concentrations of Pb, with maximum amounts in shoot > root >seed respectively. The phytoextraction efficiency of the germplasm was assessed interms of the Transfer factor (TF), Metal removal efficiency (MRE) and Metal extractionratio (MER). Among all assessed criteria, GP.8585 was found to be most appropriate forrestoring moderately Pb-contaminated soil accompanied with providing high biomassand high yield production. The Pb content in the oil of GP.8585 was below the Foodsafety standard of China, with 59.5% oleic acid and 32.1% linoleic acid. Moreover, aminoacid analysis in meal illustrated significant differences among essential and nonessentialamino acids. Glutamic acid was found in the highest percentage (22.4%),whereas cysteine in the lowest percentage (1.3%). Therefore, its efficientphytoextraction ability and good quality edible oil and meal production