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American Journal of  
Life Science and Innovation (AJLSI)

A Study of  the Phytoremediation Process Using Water Lettuce (Pistia StratiotesPistia Stratiotes) 
in the Removal of  Ciprofloxacin

Vimbai Masiyambiri1, Bachir Yaou Balarabe2*, Irédon Adjama1, Hassimi Moussa3, 
Maman Nasser Illiassou Oumarou1, Abdoul Moumouni Iro Sodo4

Volume 2 Issue 1, Year 2023
ISSN: 2833-1397 (Online)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54536/ajlsi.v2i1.1092
https://journals.e-palli.com/home/index.php/ajlsi

Article Information ABSTRACT

Received: December 19, 2022

Accepted: December 26, 2022

Published: January 07, 2023

The use of  antibiotics has become imperative and unavoidable in medicine to Figureht 
against microbes, but the majority of  these antibiotics are found in environmental ecosys-
tems. It is revealed that the presence of  these in the environment, intoxicates the bacterial ecologi-
cal medium.Then, this investigated the phytoremediation abilities of  Water lettuce (Pistia 
Stratiotes). Adolescent plants were placed in two different concentrations of  Ciprofloxacin 
solution for 7 days. The aim was to see if  the plant could remove the Ciprofloxacin, what 
amount of  it and the effects of  the drug on the plant thereafter. The concentrations were 
50ppm and 10ppm of  Ciprofloxacin. The result was that at 50ppm, the plants developed 
necrosis within 3 days and died. At 10ppm solution, water lettuce managed more than 70% 
removal efficiency, and also a steady growth of  the plant was maintained at 0.1606 g/day. 
For the concentration of  Ciprofloxacin, analysis of  sample water was done using UV-Visible Spec-
troscopy and plant extract was analyzed by HPLC. The study proved that water lettuce can be used 
as a remediation technique for surface waters, or can be an end-of-pipe measure for pharmaceutical 
wastewater treatment facilities before discharge into surface waters. 

Keywords

Phytoremediation, Removal 
Efficiency, Pistia Stratiotes, 
Ciprofloxacin

INTRODUCTION
Freshwater reservoirs are being depleted and ocean 
temperatures are rising, causing water pollution. As a 
result of  anthropogenic activities, water is polluted 1. 
Adverse effects have been observed on the water supply. 
These include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs, 
and groundwater. When contaminants are introduced 
into bodies of  water, it leads to pollution. The pollution 
control industry has seen an increase in the last few years 
as a result of  rising concerns. Untreated wastewater and 
industrial effluents. There are a number of  ways in which 
antibiotics enter the environment. Among them are direct 
human or animal excretion, animal manure applied to 
crops as fertilizer, municipal wastewater treatment plants, 
hospitals, and manufacturing plants (Balarabe & Maity, 
2022; Booth et al., 2020; Kraemer et al., 2019). With the 
rapid development of  pharmaceutical waste, a growing 
threat is posed to surface and groundwater resources with 
adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems (Balarabe et al., 
2022; Jin & Aslam, 2019). As most antibiotics have active 
ingredients that dissolve in water, they can be transmitted 
into aquatic food webs as well. Bioaccumulation poses a 
threat to public health, destroys aquatic flora and fauna, 
and leads to drug-resistant waterborne diseases. Several 
pharmaceutical wastes end up in the environment, 
including antibiotics, hormone wastes, and analgesics, 
from inappropriately disposed of  pharmaceuticals, 
unused or expired tablets, and unprescribed pills. 
Tetracycline, Oxytetracycline, Ibuprofen, Ciprofloxacin, 
and Norfloxacin are some of  the antibiotics that persist 
in wastewater after treatment (Shikha & Gauba, 2016). 

To classify fluoroquinolones, it is necessary to examine 
their spectrum of  activity as well as their pharmacokinetic 
profile. A fluoroquinolone-type antibiotic known as 
Ciprofloxacin is an antibiotic that has broad antibacterial 
activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative 
bacteria (Wu et al., 2008). With well-established safety 
features, Ciprofloxacin is a promising and effective 
antibiotic. Having effectively treated over 250 million 
people globally, its safety profile has been extensively 
documented in a large number of  scientific articles. 
Ciprofloxacin inhibits DNA gyrase, which is needed for 
disease replication. After oral treatment, ciprofloxacin is 
rarely absorbed completely. Ciprofloxacin has an absolute 
bioavailability of  70–80 percent, with no significant 
loss due to first-pass metabolism (Sharma et al., 2009). 
Many traditional cleanup procedures do not provide 
adequate solutions to pollution in water and soil today. 
Pharmaceutical and industrial waste products accumulate 
in the land, air, and water, destroying plants and causing 
health problems. Heavy metal toxins, antibiotics, hormonal 
wastes, and pharmaceuticals are among the pollutants. As 
part of  the phytoremediation process, plants are utilized 
in soil, sediment, and water to remove, transport, stabilize, 
and decompose pollutants deposited in them through the 
use of  plants (Shikha & Gauba, 2016). Restoration of  the 
environment with plants is centuries old and cannot be 
credited to any individual. A phytoremediation method 
is environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and promising. 
An example of  phytoremediation is the use of  plants to 
treat contaminated environments when they are naturally 
occurring or genetically modified. There is a growing 

1 School of  Pharmacy, National Forensic Sciences University, Sector-09, Gandhinagar, India 
2 School of  Engineering and Technology, National Forensic Sciences University, Sector-09, Gandhinagar, India
3 Département des Sciences de l’Environnement, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université Boubakar Bâ, Tillabéri, Niger
4 International Institute of  Tropical Agriculture (IITA), University of  Ibadan, PMB 5320, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
* Corresponding author’s e-mail: yaoubalarabe@gmail.com 

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interest in phytoremediation, in which macrophyte 
plants are used in constructed wetlands and stormwater 
detention ponds to treat eutrophic waterways (Tanmay 
Sanyal & Saha, 2022) Phytoremediation has evolved 
recently. The concept of  phytoextraction was developed 
by Singh & Santal, an approach that uses plants to absorb 
pollutants into their biomass. Pollutants are absorbed by 
plants and stored in their aerial portions, after harvesting, 
the plant is discarded (Kumar et al., 2018) . Rhizofiltration 
involves the root system of  plants interacting with toxins 
to remove pollution. This technology has the potential 
to reduce the bioavailability of  organic and inorganic 
contaminants. Rhizofiltration leaves the pollutant on/
in the root.  In phytovolatilization, toxins are absorbed 
from the soil, converted to a volatile form, and released 
into the atmosphere (A. Yan et al., 2020). Then, plants 
involved in process requires a dense root system 
(Radziemska et al., 2017) (A. Yan et al., 2020). As well as 
the degradation of  contaminants in soil, groundwater, 
and surface waters, phytodegradation is the enzyme-
mediated uptake and breakdown of  pollutants within 
plants. Plants and accompanying microbes digest organic 
pollutants to transform them into harmless forms. Plant 
roots absorb a considerable amount of  contaminants. 
There are thousands of  Pistia stratiotes (water lettuce) 
floating in the ocean. It spreads rapidly in nutrient-
contaminated water. Due to its availability and ability to 
withstand temperatures up to 30°C, water lettuce can treat 
wastewater. It grows in massive colonies on water as an 
Araceae macrophyte. If  left unchecked, these colonies can 
be invasive. While a dense root network absorbs/adsorbs 
contaminants from water, hydrophobic leaf  surfaces keep 
it afloat (Galal & Farahat, 2015) and (Mustafa & Hayder, 
2021). Phytoremediation, therefore, is an environmentally 
friendly, cheap, efficient, and effective way to remove 
antibiotics from contaminated water (Ansari et al., 2020).  
Industrial, household and agricultural wastewater have 
been treated with Pistia stratiotes. This plant is widely used 
because of  its availability, durability in toxic environments, 
bioaccumulation potential, and invasive properties 
(Mustafa & Hayder, 2021). In a lab test, (Gowri et al., 2020) 
found that water lettuce can be used to purify eutrophic 

surface water, but not for drinking. To name a few, water 
lettuce reduced or increased BOD, COD, pH, Nitrates, 
Phosphates, and TDS. A study by (Kumar et al., 2018) 
found that Water Lettuce (P. Stratiotes) can remove heavy 
metal contamination. A 75% maximum extraction of  
heavy metal was from the water.  According to (Upadhyay 
& Panda, 2009), copper on water lettuce could be a 
bioindicator for copper levels in surface water.  (Odjegba 
& Fasidi, 2004) tested the effectiveness of  Water lettuce 
for the removal of  heavy metals was tested. It was found 
that the rate of  leaf  growth was found to be reduced 
when metal type, concentrations, and exposure time were 
increased.  This study aims to remove Ciprofloxacin from 
a hydroponic nutrient solution by water lettuce. 

MATERIAL AND METHOD 
All the materials and solvents were purchased from 
commercial sources (Finer Chemicals, India, Sisco 
research laboratories Pvt. Ltd., India, Sigma Aldrich, 
and Abhishek Enterprise Pvt. Ltd.) and used as received 
without purification. Distilled water was used as the 
solvent for Ciprofloxacin and the Hoagland solution 
in which the plants were grown. For standardization in 
HPLC, Milli-Q water was used as a solvent as required 
by the HPLC protocol. Milli-Q water and spectroscopic 
grade solvents were used for all measurements.

Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) plants 
The adolescent water lettuce plants were obtained from 
Umarose Nursery and Farm, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. 
The plants were washed thoroughly and grown in a 
hydroponic solution for 1 week prior to exposure to a 
Ciprofloxacin solution. 

Preparation and characterization of  Hoagland 
Solution
Pistia stratiotes plant life was sustained in a hydroponic 
system by using a Hoagland solution which is prepared 
based on the modified protocol of  Hoagland and Amon 
in 1950 (Seth et al., 2011). The nutrients were made 
separately into stock solutions and the working solution 
was mixed accordingly (Table 1). 

Table 1: Hoagland Solution Composition: The stock and working solutions.
Nutrient Stock solution (g/100mL) Working solution (mL/L)

Macro-nutrients Calcium nitrate   
Potassium Nitrate   
Magnesium sulfate   
Monopotassium phosphate   

23.61
5.02
24.64
1.31

2.50
2.50
1.00
1.00

Micronutrients Boric acid 
Manganese sulfate 
Zinc sulfate 
Copper (2) sulfate 
Molybdic acid 
EDTA-K salt 
Ferric Sulfate 

2.86
1.54
0.22
0.08
0.09
2.50
2.50

1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00

Preparation and Characterization of  Ciprofloxacin HCL
The Ciprofloxacin HCL used was obtained from Abaris 
Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., Mehsana, India. Ciprofloxacin 

is insoluble in water, therefore, the study utilized 
Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloric powder. The study targeted 
the degradation of  a 10ppm solution of  Ciprofloxacin.

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UV-Visible Spectroscopy was used to analyze a 10ppm 
solution of  Ciprofloxacin and single distilled water at full-
spectrum analysis (200-800nm) to find the absorbance 
peak for Ciprofloxacin. The same analysis was also done 
using 10ppm Ciprofloxacin and Hoagland solution. High-
Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used 
to Characterized Ciprofloxacin according to the protocol 
described by (Wu et al., 2008). 

Development of  Ciprofloxacin Calibration curve 
To develop a standard for Ciprofloxacin, 2 calibration 
curves were plotted using results from UV-Visible 
spectrometry and HPLC analysis. The standard determined 
the key concentration to use in characterization studies. 
A sample of  1mg/10ml was used to create a 100ppm 
stock solution, from which 2, 4, 6,8, and 10ppm working 
solutions were derived to create the calibration curve. The 
absorbance for Ciprofloxacin was determined at 271nm. 

Preparation of  Citrate - phosphate buffer  
To check the availability of  Ciprofloxacin in the plant, 
the plant extract was derived using a Citric-dihydrogen 
phosphate buffer called McIlvaine buffer after its creator, 
Theodore McIlvaine in 1921. Development and use were 
done following the protocol by (McIlvaine, 1921; Y. Yan 
et al., 2021). 

Experimental procedure 
Pistia stratiotes plants were grown in two different 
concentrations, 50 ppm, and 10 ppm concentrations. 
The first was to introduce plants to a slightly high 
concentration, to determine the level of  toxicity water 
lettuce can withstand. The second concentration was 
primarily the focus of  the study, to see if  and what amount 
of  the Ciprofloxacin could be removed by the plant from 
water. It was a test of  its phytoremediation capability. 
Plants were monitored for 7 days for both parameters. 
Water lettuce was grown at ambient temperature. The 
pH was monitored as the plant needs a pH of  6.5-7.5 to 
grow. Water loss through evapotranspiration was refilled 
with distilled water and Hoagland solution.  Readings 
for UV- Visible spectroscopy were taken initially from 
Ciprofloxacin solution prior to transplanting the plants. 
On the 7th day, another UV-Visible reading was done to 
check the amount of  Ciprofloxacin left. The pH reading 
was carried out every day because Ciprofloxacin HCL is 
acidic and acidity could kill the plant. Foil paper was used 
on samples to reduce photodegradation of  Ciprofloxacin 
as shown in the experimental set-up. The Pistia stratiotes 
resilience by taking initial and final growth fresh 
weights and calculating the growth per day. The growth 
was monitored in the 7 days the plant was exposed to 
Ciprofloxacin. 

Figure 1: Experimental setup: 
(a) Distilled water mixed with Ciprofloxacin (at 10 ppm) under the sun; (b) Distilled water mixed with Ciprofloxacin (at 10 
ppm) without the sun; (c) Distilled water mixed with Holang solution (at 10 ppm) under the sun; (d) Distilled water mixed 
with Holang solution (at 10 ppm) without the sun; (e) Holang solution (at 10 ppm) with Pistia stratiotes under the sun; (f) 
Holang solution (at 10 ppm) with Pistia stratiotes without the sun; (g) Ciprofloxacin, Holang solution (at 10 ppm) and Pistia 
stratiotes under the sun; (h) Ciprofloxacin, Holang solution (at 10 ppm) and Pistia stratiotes without the sun.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
Ciprofloxacin concentrations of  5, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 
50ppm were tested. Figure. 2a shows that the higher 
the concentration of  ciprofloxacin, the more difficult 
it is for the plant to survive. The plant grows normally 
up to 10pmmIn the Ciprofloxacin solution, plants 
developed chlorosis and necrosis within the first 3 days 

and died. Plants suffer toxicity from absorbing fluorine, 
which explains this. Plant growth is illustrated in Figure. 
2a&b at 10ppm and 50ppm, respectively. Fluorine is 
a determining factor in the structure of  Ciprofloxacin, 
which is a fluoroquinolone (Sharma et al., 2009). Plants 
sensitive to fluorine are susceptible to necrotic lesions, 
burning, chlorosis, leaf  damage, and development and 

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reproductive suppression (Banerjee & Roychoudhury, 
2019). It became apparent that the water lettuce samples 
that contained 50ppm will be effective as bioindicators in 
the future (Galal & Farahat, 2015).

UV- Vis spectroscopy indicated a lambda max of  271nm 
for 10ppm ciprofloxacin solution and a maximum 
absorbance of  0.8573111 (Figure. 3a). The lambda max 
was also found to be 271nm for Ciprofloxacin and 

Figure 2:   (a)-Water lettuce survival analysis, (b)-Normal growth of  Water lettuce in 10ppm Cipro solution, (c)-Dying 
of  Water lettuce plants in 50ppm Cipro solution.

Hoagland solution at 10ppm, showing almost the same 
absorbance. In Figure. 3c, the calibration curve at different 
concentrations (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10ppm) was plotted and 
the equation was y= 0.0844x + 0.0136 with an R2 of  
0.9992. The UV-Visible reading of  day 7 indicated that 
there had been a significant decrease in UV absorption. 
The degradation efficiency of  the can be defined as 
Degradation efficiency (%) = (C0-Ct)/C0 × 100% 2, 
where: C0 is the Cipro concentration at 10ppm, and Ct is 
the residual concentration of  Cipro after 7 days. In Figure. 
3d, the degradation efficiency of  the treatments S1, S2, 
S3, S4, S7, and S8 has been shown. It is evident from 
Treatments 1 and 2 that light contributes to ciprofloxacin 

degradation. 3.62% of  Cipro removable was attributed 
to light. Furthermore, when Hoagland’s solution was 
added (S3 treatment), the degradation rate increased 
from 3.62% to 5.69%. Iron present in Hoagland’s 
solution may act as a reducing agent. Combined with 
light + Hoagland’s solution + Water lettuce, significant 
degradation occurs. Therefore, Water lettuce is able to 
absorb 71.92% (treatment S7) of  ciprofloxacin compared 
to 66.60% without light (treatment S7). In addition, this 
illustrates how light influences ciprofloxacin degradation. 
After this, on the 7th day, Water lettuce from treatment 
S7 was harvested and dried at ambient temperatures. This 
took 4 days for the plants to be completely dry. The dried 

Figure 3 : (a)-UV- Vis Spectroscopy of  Cipro solution, (b)-UV- Vis Spectroscopy of  Cipro and Hoagland solution, 
(c)-Calibration Curve of   Cipro solution in UV-Vis Spectroscopy and (d)-Cipro removable efficiency per treatment.

plant was then prepared for HPLC using the protocol 
which uses McIlvaine buffer to get plant extract (A. Yan 
et al., 2020). A mortar was used to fine-grind dried plant 
samples. The plant powder was then sifted and placed 
in a centrifuge tube. 0.1 molar of  McIlvaine Buffer at 
pH 3 was prepared up to 20 ml, then added to the plant 
sample. This was sonicated for 10 min and placed in a 
centrifuge for 10 min with extraction done 3 times. The 

extract was filtered using Whatman’s filter paper. The 
clear plant extract was analyzed by HPLC to determine 
Ciprofloxacin content. Bypassing the plant extract 
through HPLC, it was observed that a peak synonymous 
with Ciprofloxacin was observed (Figure. 4a&b). This 
proved beyond doubt that Water lettuce had the ability 
to absorb Ciprofloxacin from water. The peak observed 
in HPLC is shown in Figure. 3a&b. The time of  the peak 

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during calibration is the same as the time observed from 
the plant extract. This observation means that the same 
compound (Ciprofloxacin) was retained, eluted, and 
detected in both instances.  From the standard curve of  the 
2, 4, 6, 8, and 100 in Figure. 4c with equation y= 33519x-
34322 and R2= 0.9963, the peak from the water lettuce 
plant extract in Figure. 4b corresponded with the peak 
for 8ppm concentration. Therefore, the concentration 
of  Ciprofloxacin in the water lettuce plant extract can be 
calculated from the standard curve equation. According 
to HPLC, the amount of  Ciprofloxacin present in 
the plant after 7 days was 7.78 ppm. This supports 

the hypothesis that Water lettuce can be used as a 
phytoremediation strategy to cleanse wastewater that has 
Ciprofloxacin. The removal efficiency indicates 77.8%, 
which is similar to the efficiency percentage obtained by 
UV-Visible spectroscopy. There was also confirmation 
from a mass spectrometry analysis of  degraded Cipro in 
the dye solution that no significant smaller fragments are 
present as a result of  this degradation process (Figure. 
4d&e). The following table 2 presents a brief  summary 
of  the previous studies, the methods used, and the 
results derived from these studies. During the 7-day 
period, the water lettuce plant had accumulative growth 

Figure 4: (a)-HPLC peak of  10 ppm Cipro concentration, (b)- Plant Extract analysis in HPLC, (c)-Calibration Curve 
of  Cipro in HPLC and Mass Spectrometry analysis of  Cipro (d)-before and (e)-after 7 days.

of  0.1606grams each day. This growth was not deterred 
by the effects of  Ciprofloxacin, which means that it is a 
hyperaccumulator. The Relative growth rate (g/d) = (W2-
W1/ T2-T1) (Kumar et al., 2018).
Where W1 (9.53167g) is the initial mass of  fresh plants, 
W2 is the final mass of  fresh plants (8.5676g); T1 is 
day 1 and T2, is the last day. The Relative growth rate is 
0.1606grams/day.
The Bioconcentration factor or bioaccumulation factor is 
calculated to determine if  a plant is a hyperaccumulator. 
This means that the plant biomass will not be disturbed 
by the amount of  pollutant accumulation at a particular 
concentration of  said pollutant.  In other words, it is a 

ratio of  the contaminant in the plant in relation to its 
concentration in the water. For hyperaccumulators, the 
BCF is more than 1. The BCF = CHPLC / CUV.
Where CHPLC (7.78ppm) is the contaminant 
concentration in plant tissue (HPLC result) and CUV 
(2.69ppm) is the contaminant concentration in wastewater 
(UV result).  
For this particular study, the BCF for water lettuce was 
2.89. BCF is more than 1 means that Water Lettuce is 
a hyperaccumulator and can be used to reduce bio-
availability of  Ciprofloxacin in affected waters. BCF 
is also important as it shows the impact or risk to the 
ecosystem under threat from a contaminant. 

Table 2: A summary of  previous studies
Serial 
No. 

Location Experimental Parameters Analytical Technique Summary References 

1 Uttarakhand, 
India 

Removal of  selected metals 
Copper, Iron, and Mercury 
using Water Lettuce 

Absorbances 
recorded using UV-
Vis Spectroscopy 

Water lettuce managed 
to effectively remediate 
synthetic and industrial 
wastewater  

(Kumar et al., 
2018)

2 Vanarasi, 
India 

5 heavy metals (Cu, Cr, 
Fe, Zn, Cd) in 3 different 
concentrations (1.0, 2.0, 
5.0mg-L 

Atomic absorption 
spectrophotometer, 
UV-Vis, Extraction 
air acetylene flame 
method 

Water lettuce along 
with two other aquatic 
plants showed that it 
was highly effective 
as a phytoremediator, 
without damage from 
toxicity.

(Mishra & 
Tripathi, 
2008)

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3 Lagos, 
Nigeria 

Exposure of  live plants 
to crude oil (0–100 ppm) 
for 28 days at a normal 
temperature of  30 ± 2C. 

Total Hydrogen 
content (THC) 
and metal ion 
concentration were 
measured using AAS. 

Crude oil was toxic to 
the plant. Using growth 
and cell division Water 
lettuce can be used as a 
bio-indicator in water.  

(Akapo et al., 
201 C.E.)

4 Ankara, 
Turkey 

Water Lettuce exposed to 
different concentrations of  
Cadmium and Lead 

ICP-MS used to 
analyze plant extract 

Water lettuce was 
successful in removing 
heavy metals at 
moderate concentrations 

 (Ali et al., 
2020)

5 Fort Pierce, 
USA 

2 plots in 2 different 
stormwater detention plots. 
1plot with water lettuce 
plants, Analysis of  water 
samples weekly for 22 
months 

ICP-OES 20% reduction in metals 
in water. The highest 
accumulation was of  Cr 

(Lu et al., 
2010)

6 Prague, 
Czech 
Republic 

8 variants were set up. Plans 
were grown in Hoagland 
solution. Harvesting of  
plants for analysis on days, 2 
4 and 8 

ICP-OES, UV-Vis 
Spectroscopy 

Pb accumulation by 
rhizofiltration. Chlorosis 
due to increased Pb 
accumulation 

(Veselý et al., 
2013)

7 Alexandria, 
Egypt 

3 experimental units with 
water lettuce. Growth 
monitored for 7 days.  

Physicochemical 
parameters of  
wastewater analyzed 

High removal rate of  Fe, 
Cu, Zn. Reduction of  
TN and TP and removal 
of  HNO3 

Gaballah et 
al., 2019)

8 Nigeria Using Water lettuce to treat 
wastewater from rubber 
industry effluent for 3 years 

AAS  Successful in reduction 
of  water perimeters to 
WHO permissible limits 

(Owamah et 
al., 2014)

9 Shanghai, 
Bangkok,  

Weekly sampling of  
physicochemical properties 
of  water under study- 3 
macrophytes. 
6months in 3 separate tanks. 
Analysis after every 10 days 

Water parameters 
analyzed

Water lettuce exhibited 
the highest efficiency 
removal of  Phosphorus. 
High nitrogen removal 
was attributed to its 
dense root system 
which encouraged 
microbial activity for 
denitrification

(Lu et al.,
2010)

10 Thailand 
China 

Water lettuce grown and 
analyzed for 7 days with 
different Chlorpyrifos 
concentrations 

GC-ECD  Water lettuce growth 
and removal efficiency 
was dose dependent. 
Img + concentration of  
the pesticide was toxic.   

(Prabakaran et 
al., 2019)

11 Gujarat 
India

Water lettuce grown 
and analyzed for 7 days 
with different 10ppm 
Ciprofloxacin

UV-Vis, HPLC, 
GC-MS

Water lettuce growth 
and removal efficiency 
was approx. 70%

This work

CONCLUSION
Phytoremediation of  Ciprofloxacin using Water lettuce 
was achieved in the study.  The study supports earlier work 
mentioned above that macrophytes can remediate surface 
waters. The study was done under ambient temperatures. 
The variable that was maintained was the pH. The plants 
need pH of  between 6.5 - 7.5.  As the study was done 
during the month of  May, one of  the hottest months for 
Gujarat, India, it showed resilience for high temperatures. 
In order to maintain the sustainability of  contaminated 
large-scale landscapes and damaged aquatic ecosystems, 
phytoremediation is a practical and economical method 
of  cleanup that uses macrophytes like water lettuce. Water 

lettuce is an invasive macrophyte which grows in most 
tropical regions. By harnessing macrophytes to remediate 
surface water, not only do ecosystems benefit, it is also an 
investment in future environmental sustainability. Research 
is needed to find out if  Water lettuce can remediate more 
pharmaceutical waste. The performance of  the plant in 
a field study on pharmaceutical waste water needs to be 
studied. In the above study, Ciprofloxacin interactions with 
the rhizosphere and plant tissue were not explored. 

Compliance with ethical standards.
Declaration of  Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing 

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financial interests or personal relationships that could 
have appeared to influence the work reported in this 
paper.

Data availability
Data will be made available on request.

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