A study on Effect of Ambient Air Pollution from Roadside Traffic on Qualitative and Quantitative Phytochemical Constituents of Solanum tuberosum L.

Abstract

Solanum tuberosum L. is a useful vegetable crop and a member of the Solanaceae family that yields starch molecules with a high concentration. The analysis of both qualitative and quantitative phytochemical substances was the main focus of the current investigation. We have chosen places with road traffic and without road traffic (control) for the crop comparison analysis. The qualitative phytochemical substances analysed protein, carbohydrate, iodine, phenol, tannin, flavonoids, saponin, glycosides, steroids, terpene, and alkaloids. The complete phenolic content exhibits a total mean value of 0.03712, surpassing the threshold of 0.03176, while the overall flavonoid content shows a total mean value of 0.04696, exceeding the threshold of 0.03764.  Crops growing close to busy road traffic had lower phytochemical substances, in terms of quantity and quality. This record demonstrates the detrimental impact of air pollution caused by vehicles on crop vegetation. Crop vegetation differs between control and road traffic sites, according to data on both qualitative and quantitative phytochemical substances.