HEAVY METAL AND PESTICIDE REMEDIATION STRATEGIES IN CULTIVATED AYURVEDIC SOILS: ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE, SAFE, AND GLOBALLY ACCEPTED MEDICINAL PLANT PRODUCTION

Abstract

The global demand for Ayurvedic medicinal plants has increased substantially due to rising acceptance of traditional medicine and plant-based therapeutics [1-6]. This expansion has intensified cultivation systems, leading to increased exposure of medicinal plants to soil contamination by heavy metals and pesticide residues [18-23,29-35]. Heavy metals such as Cd, Pb, As, Hg, Cr and Ni originate from industrial emissions, mining activities, wastewater irrigation and fertilizers [18-23]. Pesticide residues further disrupt soil microbial ecosystem and plant metabolic functions [29-33]. These contaminants significantly compromise medicinal plant safety, phytochemical integrity and international market acceptance [24,36,43]. Bioaccumulation of toxic elements can lead to severe human health risks including neurotoxicity and carcinogenicity [25,43]. Therefore, sustainable remediation of contaminated soils is essential. Advanced remediation technologies such as phytoremediation [1-6,37-41], microbial-assisted remediation [9-12,44-45], biochar-based immobilization [13-18,46-50], nanotechnology [53-56] and integrated systems [50,57-60] offer promising solutions. This review proposes the Ayurvedic Clean Soil Certification System (ACSCS) as a global framework for safe medicinal plant production.