Assessment of Phyto-remediation efficiency and Crop productivity of Castor-based Rice Mill Effluent (RME) wetland System

Assessment of Phyto-remediation efficiency and Crop productivity of Castor-based Rice Mill Effluent (RME) wetland System | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Assessment of Phyto-remediation efficiency and Crop productivity of Castor-based Rice Mill Effluent (RME) wetland System Ashutosh Das, R. Sathya, Ranjan Kumar Mallick This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8358531/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract For major paddy producing countries like India, rice mill effluent (RME) poses a persistent environmental challenge by dint of its high organic and nutrient loads. Among various methods of treatment of various wastewater, of late, including RME, constructed wetland has been emerging as a sustainable treatment option. Usage of Ricinus communis (commonly called Castor) has been explored herewith for being the wetland plant for remediation of RME, so as to achieve simultaneous effluent remediation and biomass production. In the present study the RME and soil samples were procured from Vallam suburb of Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu (India) for being a part of a rich agro-belt of southern India. The biochemical analyses of the RME and soil indicate elevated TDS, EC, and nitrate levels. RME-pre-soaked castor seeds exhibited enhanced germination percentage (90%) and as high as 12-fold rise in vigor index, in comparison to controls, The results emerged from the wetland trials, moderate effluent dilution (50%) maximized plant height (52 cm), leaf area index (2.4), and removal efficiencies (65–72% for NO₃⁻–N and NH₄⁺–N; >70% for COD/BOD). Field validation study further confirmed enhanced plant growth and yield in effluent-enriched soils, with seed yield increasing fourfold (22 → 91 g) and harvest index rising to 60.6%. Overall, these findings suggest that castor-based constructed wetlands have the potential to integrate wastewater phytoremediation with productive land use while maintaining the chemical safety of castor seed biomass within a circular bioresource framework. Biological sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Biological sciences/Plant sciences CASTOR (RICINUS COMMUNIS) CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS RICE MILL EFFLUENT WASTEWATER TREATMENT PHYTOREMEDIATION SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 23 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 13 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 08 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 08 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 20 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 20 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8358531","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":621944809,"identity":"178209ea-d0e1-4707-ad93-76b7ac864608","order_by":0,"name":"Ashutosh Das","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA50lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHjCZwHCAgfEBTOwAQS0HIFqYDUjWwiZBlLP4+88ek/5QUZfHd/z4s8ofFXYM/O0HGA8X4NEicSMvTeLAmcPFkmdyzG7znElmkDiTwHB4Bj5rbvCYSRxsO5C44UAO223GNmagCAPDYR48OuTPnwFpqUvccP75s8KfbfUM8oS0GBzIAWlhTtxwI8GMgbftMIMBIS2GN3KMLc6cOZw488YbY2meM8d5DM8kNuDVInf+jOGNioq6xL7z6Q8//qiolpM7fvjwZ3xaMABQMWMDKRpGwSgYBaNgFGABAMOmVQFcgprGAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"SOA University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ashutosh","middleName":"","lastName":"Das","suffix":""},{"id":621944810,"identity":"30784d5c-5771-4bd9-a93e-9b570adf2edb","order_by":1,"name":"R. 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Among various methods of treatment of various wastewater, of late, including RME, constructed wetland has been emerging as a sustainable treatment option. Usage of \u003cem\u003eRicinus communis (commonly called Castor)\u003c/em\u003e has been explored herewith for being the wetland plant for remediation of RME, so as to achieve simultaneous effluent remediation and biomass production. In the present study the RME and soil samples were procured from Vallam suburb of Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu (India) for being a part of a rich agro-belt of southern India. The biochemical analyses of the RME and soil indicate elevated TDS, EC, and nitrate levels. RME-pre-soaked castor seeds exhibited enhanced germination percentage (90%) and as high as 12-fold rise in vigor index, in comparison to controls, The results emerged from the wetland trials, moderate effluent dilution (50%) maximized plant height (52 cm), leaf area index (2.4), and removal efficiencies (65\u0026ndash;72% for NO₃⁻\u0026ndash;N and NH₄⁺\u0026ndash;N; \u0026gt;70% for COD/BOD). Field validation study further confirmed enhanced plant growth and yield in effluent-enriched soils, with seed yield increasing fourfold (22 \u0026rarr; 91 g) and harvest index rising to 60.6%. Overall, these findings suggest that castor-based constructed wetlands have the potential to integrate wastewater phytoremediation with productive land use while maintaining the chemical safety of castor seed biomass within a circular bioresource framework.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Assessment of Phyto-remediation efficiency and Crop productivity of Castor-based Rice Mill Effluent (RME) wetland System","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-15 09:41:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8358531/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-04-23T04:46:18+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-13T05:02:41+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"57216749591853373702600356990924768003","date":"2026-04-13T04:43:52+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-04-08T06:50:01+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-04-08T06:49:21+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-03-21T03:27:50+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2026-03-20T18:45:17+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"69a03bff-ca15-445a-a890-97cf4d54d334","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 15th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":66180073,"name":"Biological sciences/Ecology"},{"id":66180074,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology"},{"id":66180075,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences"},{"id":66180076,"name":"Biological sciences/Plant sciences"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-28T09:38:44+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-15 09:41:04","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8358531","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8358531","identity":"rs-8358531","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}