Effect of hydrocarbons on the pigment content and enzymatic activity of mangrove plants
Environmental pollution, plant metabolism, fossil fuels
Plants exposed to hydrocarbons, major oil constituents and derivative products absorb, accumulate and integrate these pollutants into their systems. Depending on sensitivity, they present biochemical changes such as changes in pigment concentration and enzymatic activity. The present review seeks to evaluate the state of the art on the effect of different pollutants of petroleum origin on plant species, having as evaluation parameters alterations in the contraction of pigments and enzymatic activity. For this purpose, a systematic review was carried out, considering publications up to the year 2021. After analyzing the studies, it was found that different pollutants affect the pigment content and enzymatic activity, this effect will vary depending on the species, environment, type of pollutant and concentration of exposure. There was an increase in the number of studies over the years, and the countries that published the most were China, India and the United States, respectively. Petroleum, diesel, gasoline, phenanthrene, anthracene and fluoranthene were the most studied pollutants, being the most studied agricultural species; and the leaf was the part of the plant used in the analysis of pigments and enzymes in most studies. Of the pigments, chlorophylls and carotenoids were most evaluated; and the enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase were more evaluated. Through the final analysis of the studies, it was concluded that, although the vegetation is the most striking feature of the mangroves, and these habitats are often targets of contamination by substances of petroleum origin, the number of studies with mangrove species were relatively low.