Saibalini Behera et al., 2018 | Scientific Journal Impact Factor (SJIF): 4.46 1589 Volume: 4; Issue: 6; June-2018; pp 1589-1598. ISSN: 2454-5422 Phytoremediation of Chromium by Chickpea (Ciecer arietinum L.) and Mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) A comparative study Saibalini Behera 1* , Suryakanta Bahira 1 , Gurudutta Pattnaik 2 and Puspashree Puhan 3 1 Research Scholar, School of Pharmacy and Life Science, C.U.T.M, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. 2 Principal, School of Pharmacy and Life Science, C.U.T.M, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. 3 Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, B.J.B. Autonomous College, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India *Corresponding Author E-mail: beherasaibalini1000@gmail.com Abstract The present study have objective to test the toxic effect of chromium on species of chickpea (Ciecer arietinum L.) and Mung bean (Vigna radiata L.) comparatively. The plants are grown on the soil containing chromium as anhydrous Potassium dichromate (K₂Cr₂O₇) under normal environmental conditions. The study includes effect of different concentration at 10, 30, 50 ppm of chromium on plant growth and its accumulation in the species. The plants were harvested separately after specified time interval of 10, 20, 30 days and the accumulation of chromium in the plant species were observed. Keywords: Chromium, Potassium dichromate, Chickpea, Mung bean, Phytoremediation. Introduction Chromium present in nature in the form of chromites (FeCr 2 O 4 ) in ultramafic and serpentine rocks or combined with other metals in the forms like crocoite (PbCrO 4 ), bentorite Ca6 (Cr, Al) 2 (SO 4 ) 3 and tarapacaite (K 2 CrO 4 ), vauquelinite (CuPb 2 CrO 4 P O 4 OH), among others. Cr is the 17 th most abundant element in the Earth crust. Chromium are used in leather processing and finishing, in the production of refractory steel, electroplating cleaning agents, catalytic manufacture and in the production of chromic acid and specialty chemicals. Several forms of chromium are Cr(0), Cr(III) and Cr(VI). Cr(0) exist in solid and metallic form usually released from steel and alloys industry. The trivalent chromium Cr(III) exist in oxides, hydroxide and sulphate forms. It is present in the soil and aquatic environment by combining with the organic matter. It is insoluble