@conference{
author = "Mikavica, Ivana and Ranđelović, Dragana and Mutić, Jelena",
year = "2021",
abstract = "Society intensively attempts to face worldwide environmental health issues menacing soil, water, and other
environmental media, especially in the last decades. One of the major threads and the most substantial
concerns are heavy metals, known for their high toxicity and difficult degradability. The need for an
efficient, low-cost, and sustainable approach to this problem led to the development of phytoremediation.
This promising remediation strategy implies plant species utilization to isolate contaminants and minimize
environmental risks. Plants able to inhabit contaminated sites and accumulate extraordinarily high
concentrations of heavy metals, with no toxic effects, are called hyperaccumulators. Some of them belong
to the group of aromatic and medicinal plants, containing natural substances widely used in food, cosmetics,
and farmaceutical industries. Owing to the secondary metabolites biosynthesis and distinctive
morphological features, medicinal plants with phytoremediation capabilities seem to be one of the possible
choices for utilization in the remediation of contaminated lands. According to the published data, the most
suitable aromatic plants for heavy metal contaminated soils remediation belong to the families: Asteraceae,
Geraniaceae, Poaceae, and Lamiaceae. As researches revealed, the percentage yield of the essential oil
(EO) distilled from the medicinal plants enhances with the increased heavy metal stress. Besides, it has
turned out that heavy metals do not significantly contaminate essential oils, contrary to the expected. Thus,
medicinal and aromatic plants hold great phytoremediation potential while simultaneously enabling the
production of essential oils. Their usage has been proposed as feasible and profitable, providing multiple
benefits from both environmental and economic aspects.",
publisher = "Bor : University of Belgrade, Technical Faculty in Bor",
journal = "7th International Student Conference on Technical Science, ISC 2021",
title = "Application of medicinal plants in phytoremediation technologies",
pages = "24-24"
}
