Using the rhizofiltration ability of Colocasia esculenta to mitigate impacts of diuron without affecting its food consumption

Abstract

In the last 30 years, the use of herbicides worldwide has doubled and these products were dispersed in soil and water. Many cases of contamination of tropical aquatic ecosystems were reported such as the case of diuron in South East Asia, Pacific and Africa for food crops such as pineapple. In parallel, taro (Colocasia esculenta or C. esculenta) large-scale cultivation is well established and the C. esculenta tubers consumption falls within local culinary uses. Here we propose a nature-based solution to mitigate the impact of diuron herbicide on tropical aquatic ecosystem. The aim of this perspective article is to illustrate the ability of cultivated plant C. esculenta to phytoaccumulate diuron pollutant by rhizofiltration. The resulting C. esculenta underwent several treatment steps to be suitable for precise diuron quantification. Analyses showed that the heart of the tubers contained less diuron than the recommended European standards and thus, could be still edible by local population which confirms the compatibility of the uses.