Abstract
The air pollution tolerance indices (APTI) of five plants species randomly sampled from the vicinity of Iron and Steel factory in Ile-Ife Osun State, Nigeria were analyzed. A composite sample of five leaves for each of the plant was used for laboratory analysis. Four physiological and biochemical parameters: leaf relative water content (RWC), ascorbic acid content (AAC), total leaf chlorophyll (TLC) and pH of leaf extract were used to compute the Air pollution tolerance indices (APTI). Results showed order of tolerance as Banana (Musa species) (0.425%) > Sandpaper leaf (Ficus asperifolia) (1.230%) > Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) (3.113%) > Cocoyam (Xanthosom species) (5.828%) > Cassava (Manihot esculenta) (22.019%); indicating that banana was the most tolerant plant while Cassava (M. esculenta)was the least tolerance (most sensitive) plant species to air pollution stress in the study area. Therefore, plants with high and low APTI can serve as tolerant and sensitive species for air pollution biomonitoring, respectively.
Key Words: APTI, sensitivity, biomonitor, physiological parameters, biochemical parameters
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