ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Analyzing Preferred Indoor Ornamental Potted
Plants for Their Air Pollution Tolerance Ability
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1
RS-GIS Laboratory, Environmental Technology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology,
Palampur, Himachal Pradesh - 176061, India
2
Agrotechnology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur,
Himachal Pradesh - 176061, India
3
Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), CSIR-HRDC Campus, Ghaziabad,
Uttar Pradesh - 201002, India
Submission date: 2021-04-07
Final revision date: 2021-07-13
Acceptance date: 2021-07-17
Online publication date: 2022-02-14
Publication date: 2022-04-06
Corresponding author
Amit Kumar
RS-GIS Laboratory, Environmental Technology Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, 176061, Himachal Pradesh, India
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2022;31(3):2019-2027
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ABSTRACT
Ornamental potted indoor plants provide environment friendly, self-regulating and cost-effective
solutions to ameliorating indoor air pollution. The present study aimed to measure Air Pollution
Tolerance Index (APTI) of 15 commonly used indoor ornamental plant species. APTI was measured from
the foliar portion of plants using their 04 biochemical parameters like chlorophyll (total), pH, relative
water content, and ascorbic acid. It was found that among all plant species, Dracaena deremensis (APTI
13.03) and Ficus benjamina (APTI 12.19) appeared as tolerant; eight species (Spathiphyllum wallisii,
Epipremnum aureum, Philodendron bipinnatifidum, Dieffenbachia seguine, Sansevieria trifasciata,
Hedera helix, Chrysanthemum indicum, Ficus elastica) were moderately tolerant with APTI values
ranging from 11.40 to 10.70. The Chlorophytum comosum (APTI 10.32) was intermediately tolerant and
four were sensitive (Rhapis excels APTI 8.58, Chamadorea seifrizii APTI 8.47, Dypsis lutescens APTI
7.47, Gerbera jamesonii APTI 6.76) towards air pollution. A positive and high correlation was obtained
between APTI and RWC (R2 = 0.742), and APTI and Ascorbic acid (R2 = 0.615). The present study
thus helped in knowing the pollution tolerance abilities of widely used indoor potted ornamental plants.
It was also revealed that the evaluation of the plant tolerance index could be useful for the screening
of appropriate indoor plant species for pollution abatement.