Study of the effect of uranium and thorium on the growing of pepper (Capsicum annuum var. longum) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus) plants

WOS: 000248612300044The transportation rate of uranium and thorium to different plants grown in soils having high level of these elements varies closely with the plant characteristics. In this study, the pepper (Capsicum annuum var. longum) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus) plants were chosen as vegetables which are commonly consumed over different regions by different populations. The results obtained can be summarized as follows. (1) High uranium concentration in the soil prevents the growing of the plants. Only the plants in the pot having the uranium concentration of about 263 ppm grew significantly. The plants in other pots having a higher concentration turned pale and died in a few weeks. (2) In the pot having thorium level of about 263 ppm, the plants were well grown and fruited in comparison to the control plants, but the increase of thorium concentration inversely influenced their growing. (3) The gross activities measured in different parts of the plants were not particularly high, however, in both cases the maximum activities were measured in the stems rather than in the fruits and leaves. (4) The plants grown in soils having thorium content lived longer than the control plants and at the greenhouse conditions indicated above, all plants lived more than one whole year flowering and fruiting