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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Adaptive Cropping Systems Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #328720
Title: Arsenic, Pb, Cu, Zn, and P accumulation by sweet potato grown on broiler litter ash amended Pb and As contaminated soils

Author
item Codling, Eton

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/21/2016
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam] is an important food crop grown in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. It is generally grown for its carbohydrates rich tuber. Sweet potato leaves rich in vitamin B, ß-carotene, iron, calcium, zinc and protein have been used as leafy vegetables in different parts of the world and with growing interest in the United States. With the growing interest in urban gardening in the U.S., there is the potential that sweet potatoes may be grown for tuber and leaves consumption on soils contaminated with lead and arsenic. Objective of this study was to determine arsenic, lead, copper, zinc, and phosphorus accumulation by sweet potatoes grown on lead and arsenic contaminated soils amended with broiler litter ash and superphosphate. Two lead and lead-arsenate contaminated soils from Baltimore and Michigan respectively and an uncontaminated soil from Maryland Eastern Shore were amended with broiler litter ash or superphosphate and planted with sweet potato. Stem tips with leaves were harvested 40 days after planting. Ninety days after planting, stems, leaves, and tubers were harvested. All plant tissue were rinsed with distilled water, tubers were peeled and dried. Shoot yield increased with P application for plants grown on the three soils; tuber yield for plants grown on the control soil was lower or equal to those grown on the Baltimore and Michigan soils. Arsenic, lead, copper, and zinc concentrations were highest in stems and leaves and lowest in tubers, while phosphorus was highest in the tubers and lowest in the stems. In all cases, metals were higher in the peel than in the peeled tubers. Even though lead and arsenic concentrations were much lower in the leaves and tubers compared to the stems. Care should be taken to prevent lead and arsenic accumulation if sweet potatoes are grown on these soils.