




































 
 

Physiological responses of Solanum nigrum L.  Species to the 

heavy crude oil  

Ghazala Ahmad Hamaden 

University of Benghazi, Faculty of Science, Botany Department, Benghazi – Libya.. 

of Benghazi, Benghazi – Libya. 

Abstract 

The remediation of oil contaminated soils has been a major problem in oil producing 
countries.  Recently use of phytoremediation to clean such polluted sites has been on 
investigated.  In order to identify plants that can enhance the remediation, Solanum 
nigrum L. (black nightshade) was used on different concentrations 
(0.0,0.5,1.0,2.0,4.0,6.0,8.0,10.0 V/V) for  seed  germination and seedling  growth.  The 
results showed that seed germination and seedling performance were enhanced under 
heavy crude oil compound.  This study indicates that black nightshade have more 
potential for resistance to crude oil concentrations and that can be used as promising tools 
for phytoremediation technology. 

Key words: Solanum nigrum L. black nightshade, heavy crude oil, phytoremediation. 

1. Introduction 

The word petroleum means “rocky oil” 
or “oil from the earth”. Although exactly 
how crude oil originated is not 
established, it is generally agreed that 
crude oil is derived from the remains of 
animals and plants that lived in marine 
water millions of years ago, types of 
crude oil:  Based on the density crude oil 
is divided in to the following groups:   
Light crude oil and heavy crude oil    

1.1. Effects of heavy crude oil on 
tested plant Solanum nigrum L.   
Commonly known as (Black nightshade) 
is a dicot weed in the Solanaceae family, 
annual herb, all green and unripe parts 
contain steroid glycosides, in form of 
steroid glycoalkaloids.  In the genus 
Solanum they are important, and are 
widely regarded as defensive 
allelochemicals of the plants against 
microorganisms and herbivores.  The 

main steroid alkaloids are solasonine and 
solanine, and are called solatrioses (Fig. 
1. 1).  

 
 Solanine 

 

Solasodine  

Fig. 1.1.   Structure of alkaloids in 
Solanum nigrum weed.      

Diesel oil pollution is harmful on the 
chlorophyll and protein contents of the 
black nightshade. It inhibited the growth 

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of plants causing reduction of both 
chlorophyll and water contents 
(Seklemora et al., 2001). Pollution-
induced degradation in photosynthetic 
pigments were recorded by a number of 
researches (Puckett et al., 2003; Mut et 
al., 2010).  Diesel oil was found to 
inhibit the metabolic and physiological 
processes including photosynthesis and 
transportation. The photosynthetic 
pigments are the most likely to be 
damaged by diesel pollution.   
Chlorophyll pigments under stress may 
undergo several photochemical reactions 
such as oxidation. Hence any alteration 
in chlorophyll concentration may change 
the morphological, physiological and 
biochemical behaviour of the plant.  
Plant responses to oil pollution are 
different and depend on plant species, oil 
kind, amount and concentration, 
exposure times and environmental 
condition (Pezeshki et al., 2000; Spiares 
et al., 2001; Zangh et al., 2007; 
Besalatpoor et al., 2008).  Soil polluted 
by crude oil have been found to inhibit 
plant growth (Agbogidi, 2011) resulting 
in hypoxic state of the soil the 
displacement of air from the soil pore 
spaces by the crude oil.   Soil polluted 
with petroleum (Adedokun & Ataga, 
2007; Besaltpour et al., 2008).  Changes  
in  soil  properties  due  to  
contamination  with petroleum derived  
substances  can lead  to  water and  
oxygen  deficits  as  well  as  to  shortage  
of  available  forms  of  nitrogen  and  
phosphorus (Njoku, 2008).  Cell 
membranes are damaged by penetration 
of hydrocarbon molecules, leading to 
leakage of cell contents.  Oils reduce 
transpiration rate, probably by blocking 
stomata and intercellular spaces.  This 
may also be the reason for the reduction 
of photosynthesis. Many researches 
showed that the presence of the oil 

resides in the soil has negative effects on 
the plant metabolism and protein 
synthesis (Ekpo & Nwaankpa, 2005; 
Richard et al., 2007; Okpokwasili & 
Odokuma, 2007; Besaltpour et al., 2008; 
Teng et al., 2010; Bamidele & Igiri, 
2011). Oil pollutions reduce some plant 
growth parameters such as: plant height, 
leaf number, leaf surface, plant fresh and 
dry weight, biomass (Omosun et al., 
2008), photosynthetic pigments and also 
nutrient absorption (Rosso et al., 2005).  
Crude oil induced environmental stress 
up on the plant seedlings. Therefore, the 
overall objective of thin research in to 
investigate the response of Solanum 
nigrum L weed plant to the effect of 
heavy crude oil.  

2. Material and Methods 

2.1.   Plant seed: 

seeds of Solanum nigrum L. (Black 
nightshade) family Solanaceae. seeds 
(weeds) were collected from Hei 
Alsalam area and were stored at room 
temperature ranges from 25 to 30°C. 

2.2. Chemicals:    

Formaldehyde, distilled water (DW), the 
crude oil used was (From AL-Breiga 
port, field Alamal ) heavy crude oil, with 
the following concentrations of each 
type of oil. (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, 
8.0, 10.0 (% v/v).    

2.3   Germination test  

Seed Preparation prior to germination:  
The seeds to be used in this work were 
surface sterilized by washing with 10 % 
formaldehyde and rinsed three times 
with sterile water for 10 minutes (Wood 
et al., 2006).   

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Sterilized glass petri dishes (9.0cm) 
lined with double layers of Watmann 
No.1.filter paper was used.   Glass petri 
dishes were cleaned and sterilized in an 
oven at 180°C for 2 hours.   Seeds were 
placed in the petri dishes each contains 
ten.   Six replicates were used for each 
treatment of different kinds of crude oil.   

The filter paper was watered by adding 3 
ml of distilled water or solution to be 
tested. All petridishes were in incubated 
in an incubator of (Gallerkamp) at 
temperature of 20°C for one week. 
Distilled water was or tested solution 
was added to the petridishes whenever it 
was needed to all replicates at the same 
time.   Germinated seeds were counted 
daily and germination percentage was 
calculated at the end of the germination 
period for each treatment as following: 
Germination   percentage =         
  
 
 
      Number of seeds sown 
(Yang et al., 2005). 
 
Germination rate (GR) = ـــــــــــــــــــــــ 
 
(N) number of emerged seeds in day  
(D) is day after planting (Rastegar.  et 
al., 2011). 
Mean germination time (MGT) =  
             n1*d1+ n2*d2 + n3*d3 ............ 
               

        Total number of days 

(Gairola et al., 2011). 
Where, n = number of germinated seed, 
d = number of days 
Daily and final germination percentages 
(%) were calculated for the 
determination of some of the following 
parameters. 

Mean daily germination is an index of 
daily germination rate  
 
Mean daily germination (MDG) =                     
 
FGP is final germination percent, (D) is 
day of maximum germination 
(experiment period) (Rastegar et al., 
2011).      Germination index (GI) = 
 
GS *   LC      
  
GC *   LC 
(Gairola. et al., 2011)  

Where (Gs) and (Gc) are number of 
seeds germinated in the sample and 
control, respectively, whereas Ls and Lc 
are the radicle length in the sample and 
control, respectively.                                          

In the case of weeds, the length was 
measured as whole seedlings due to their 
smaller size.   Ten seedlings of each 
replicated of each treatment were 
weighed together due to the small size of 
weed the seedlings.  Relative water 
contents (%) = fresh weight - Dry weight   
* 100 

 (Gairola. et al., 2011).  
 Percentages of seedling emergence =                                     
Number of seedling that emerged       
    
  Number of seeds sown                 *100                                                                                            
(Agbogidi, 2011b). 
 
Seedling vigor index (SVI) is calculated 
using the following modified formula: 
SVI = Seedling length (cm) * final 
germination percentages. 
(Mut et al., 2010).    

Tolerance index (TI) is calculated using 
the following modified formula: 

TI =     Length of seedling in treatment  

   FGP 

D 

Number of seed that germinated 

*100 % 

N

D 

 

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              Length of seedling in control 

 (Verdeguer et al., 2009).  

3.   RESULTS: 

Table.3.1 showed the effect of heavy 
crude oil on the mean values of daily 
seed germination percentages of 
Solanum nigrum L. (black nightshade).  
The results indicated no significant 
differences of seed germination 
percentages (%), i.e.  no seed 
germination had occurred during the first 
four days of germination period, under 
all  different dilutions of heavy crude oil 
including the control treatment .   During 
the fifth day, only seeds treated with 
distilled water (control) were germinated 
(F = 4.00, P< 0.01).  Tukey's pariwise 
comparisons test reveals significant 
differences between control and other 
treatment means of heavy crude oil, but 
daily germination percentages were 
found to be higher during the last days of 
germination time Figure 3.1. The Effect 
of different dilutions of heavy crude oil 
on the means of germination rate (GR), 
mean daily germination (MDG) and 
mean germination time (MGT) of 
Solanum nigrum are represented in Table 
3.2.  Results indicated that, all the above 
mentioned measures of this seed were 
not significantly affected by exogenous 
application of different dilutions of 
heavy crude oil. Whereas, the 
germination index (GI) of same plant 
was significant (F=3.81, P< 0.05) within 
treatments which was increased under 
some treatments and reduced by higher 
dilutions of heavy oil.  Tukey's pariwise 
comparisons test reveals significant 
differences between control and 
dilutions of 4.0, 8.0 10.0 (% v / v).   
Seedling length (cm) of Solanum nigrum 
measured under different dilutions of 

heavy crude oil Table 3.3. Was 
significant (F = 10.30, P< 0.001), within 
different treatments.  Different dilutions 
of lower concentration of same oil had 
increased the length of black nightshade 
seedlings with increasing concentrations 
of heavy crude oil above 8.0  (% v / v).  
Tukey's pariwise comparisons test 
reveals significant differences in 
seedling length of Solanum nigrum 
under the control in comparison to other 
different treatment means Table 3.3.  
Seedling fresh weight (g) parameter of 
Solanum nigrum was not affected by 
different concentrations of heavy crude 
oil. But seedling's dry weight of the 
same plant species was significantly 
increased under higher 
concentrations of this oil (F = 3.73, P< 
0.01).  Tukey's pairwise comparison 
test reveals significant differences in 
seedling dry weight (g) of Solanum 
nigrum between lower concentration 
including control and the highest 
concentration 10.0 (% v / v) of heavy 
crude oil Table 3.3.   Relative water 
content percentages (RWC %) of black 
nightshade are shown in Figure 3.2.  
This parameter was significantly 
reduced under higher dilutions of 
heavy oil (F = 5.87, P< 0.01).  Tukey's 
pairwise comparison test reveals 
significant differences in relative 
water content percentages of same 
plant between lower concentration 
including control and highest 
concentration 10.0  (% v / v) of heavy 
crude oil. Seedling emergence 
percentages (%) were not affected by the 
same oil Figure 3.3.    There were small 
redactions in seedling vigor index and 
tolerance index of the same target plant 
species. Using one way analysis various, 
results showed significant differences in 
these parameters within different 
dilutions of crude oil   (F = 2.90, P< 

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0.05) and (F = 7.64, P< 0.001) 
respectively. Tukey's pairwise 
comparison test reveals significant 
differences between different 
concentrations of heavy crude oil in 
(SVI). While in the case of (TI) 
differences were found in the seedlings 
developed under untreated (control) in 
compared to the different treatments 
means of the oil Table .3.4.    

4.  Discussion 

Oil pollution in whatever form is toxic to 
some plant species and their 
environment has been observed by many 
researcher workers (Opeolu, 2000; 
Adenipekun & Kassim, 2006; 
Adenipekun et al., 2009; Kelechi et al., 
2012  ) that crude oil affects soil 
properties  and this in turn affects the 
physiological, anatomical and 
development of plants grown on such 
soils.  The germination process is a very 
extremely sensitive phase in plant 
growth and development, being 
indicative to any type of environmental 
contaminants.  The effect of heavy crude 
oil residues was investigated for some 
seed parameters of some weeds which 
include Solanum nigrum. These 
parameters of Solanum nigrum was 
promoted by different dilutions of heavy 
crude oil.   These results are agreed with 
the findings reported by Objegda & 
Atebe (2007) who found that 
germination index of Indian mustard was 
not affect with diesel oil contaminated 
soil. Kirk et al., 2002 of grasses 
germinated successfully in different 
levels of petroleum hydrocarbon 
contamination. The effect of phenol and 
naphthol compounds, as water soluble 
fractions of crude oil, on the germination 
and seedling development was 
investigated for seeds of some crops 
cultivated in Libya.  The obtained results 

showed that, low concentrations of both 
phenol and naphthol caused an increase 
of germination percentages of seeds of 
tested plant.  This is probably due to 
that, low dilutions of these compounds 
may act as signal for α- amylase 
production in the seeds (Edema, 2012).  
These results agreed with those obtained 
by (El-Barghathi, 1985) who found that 
low dilutions of naphtol had a promoting 
effect on rate and final germination of 
oat seeds.   This was probably caused by 
strong resistant qualities of the black 
nightshade seeds.  This high quality of 
resistance marks the foregoing species to 
be considered as promising candidates 
for the phytoremediation of sites crude 
polluted with petroleum oil.  The study 
underscores the need for the use of 
cheap, available, and environmental 
friendly technology as a remedy for the 
harmful effects of petroleum 
contaminants in the environment.  
Coating the seeds with oily substances 
prevent water and air movement in to the 
seed and directly causes toxic actions.  
One of the most possible reasons for 
seed germination inhibitory effects in 
crude oil contaminated sites is due to 
insufficient aeration of hypoxic or 
anoxic (having little or no oxygen, 
respectively), conditions.  The embryo of 
seeds could have been injured or killed if 
it comes in contact with the oil.   This 
effect could also be as a result of format-  

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Table 3.1.  Effect of different dilutions of heavy crude oil on daily germination percentages (%) of Solanum nigrum L. (black   

nightshade) seeds. 

+ = Not significant.                                     ** = Significant at P< 0.01.                                                         ± = SEMean.      

Similar letters = not significant.                                                   Different letters = significant.    

Treatment 
(%) 

Germination percentages (%) 

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 

0.0 
+ 

0.00 ± 0.00 
+ 

0.00 ± 0.00 
+ 

0.00 ± 0.00 
+ 

0.00 ± 0.00 
** 

6.67a ± 3.3  
+  

96.8 ± 3.3 
+  

96.8 ± 3.3 

0.5 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00b ± 0.0 86.8 ± 6.7 86.8 ± 6.7 

1.0 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00b ± 0.0 93.3 ± 3.3   93.3 ± 3.3   

2.0 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00b ± 0.0 86.7 ± 8.8 90.0 ± 10.0 

4.0 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00b ± 0.0 80.0 ± 0.0 86.7 ± 6.7 

6.0 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00b ± 0.0 93.3 ± 6.7 100.0 ± 0.0 

8.0 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00b ± 0.0 80.0 ± 5.8 83.3 ± 6.7 

10.0 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00 ± 0.00 0.00b ± 0.0 83.3 ± 8.8 83.3 ± 8.8 

 

 

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Fig. 3. 1.   Effect of different dilutions of heavy crude oil on daily germination percentages (%) during the fifth day (A) and the 
seventh day (B) of Solanum nigrum L. (black nightshade) seeds. 

+ = Not significant.                                                                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0.0 0.5

M
ea

ng
er

m
in

at
io

n 
pe

rc
en

ta
ge

s 
(%

)
+

A

B

 

Effect of different dilutions of heavy crude oil on daily germination percentages (%) during the fifth day (A) and the 
L. (black nightshade) seeds.  

+ = Not significant.                                                                                                                                                                                                   

1.0 2.0 4.0 6.0

Dilutions of heavy crude oil (% v / v)
 

Effect of different dilutions of heavy crude oil on daily germination percentages (%) during the fifth day (A) and the 

                                  Bars = SEMean. 

8.0 10.0

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Table 3.2.  Effect different dilutions of heavy crude oil on the means of germination rate (GR), mean daily germination (MDG), mean 
germination time (MGT) and germination index (GI) of Solanum nigrum L. (black nightshade) seeds. 

 

+ = Not significant.                                  * = significant at P< 0.001.                                ± = SEMean.      

Similar letters = not significant.                                                                                                                                       Different letters = significant.    

Treatment (%) GR MDG MGT GI 

0.0 
+ 

1.4 ± 0.05 
+ 

13.8 ± 0.5 
+ 

18.4 ± 0.9 
* 

100.0a ± 0.00 

0.5 1.2 ± 0.09 12.4 ± 0.95 16.1 ± 1.2 81.0ab ± 9.0 

1.0 1.3 ± 0.05 13.3 ± 0.5 17.3 ± 0.62 76.95a ± 4.9 

2.0 1.3 ± 0.14 12.9 ± 1.4 16.4 ± 1.7 71.4ab ± 8.8 

4.0 1.2 ± 0.09 12.4 ± 0.95 15.5 ± 0.7 67.9b ± 5.6 

6.0 1.4 ± 0.00 14.3 ± 0.00 18.0 ± 0.6 81.9ab ± 2.9 

8.0 1.2 ± 0.09 11.9 ± 0.95 15.2 ± 1.1 64.4b ± 5.0 

10.0 1.2 ± 0.10 11.9 ± 1.3 15.5 ± 1.6 64.7b ± 6.9 

 

 

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Table 3.3.   Effect of different dilutions of heavy crude oil on seedling length (cm), fresh and dry weight (g) of Solanum nigrum L. 

(black nightshade) seedlings. 

+ = Not significant.                                       ** = Significant at P< 0.01.                                            * ** = significant at P< 0.001.                ± = SEMean.                                                                

Similar letters = not significant.                                                                                                                                        Different letters = significant.                                                                                             

Treatment (%) 

Mean values 

Length (cm) Fresh weight (g) Dry weight (g) 

0.0 
*** 

89.9a ± 2.0 
+ 

0.01 ± 0.002 
** 

0.003a ± 0.0002 

0.5 81.0ab ± 4.8 0.10 ± 0.010 0.003a ± 0.0002 

1.0 71.5b ± 3.2 0.01 ± 0.010 0.003a ± 0.0004 

2.0 68.8b ± 2.9 0.01 ± 0.009 0.003ab ± 0.0003 

4.0 67.97bc ± 1.6 0.01 ± 0.007 0.003ab ± 0.00006 

6.0 70.97b ± 1.2 0.01 ± 0.006 0.003ab ± 0.0002 

8.0 67.10bc ± 0.8 0.01 ± 0.006 0.004ab ± 0.0002 

10.0 67.40bc ± 1.2 0.01 ± 0.007 0.004b ± 0.0006 

 

 

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Fig. 3.2.   Effect of different dilutions of heavy crude oil on relative water content percentages (%) of Solanum nigrum L. (black 
nightshade) seedlings. 

** = Significant at P< 0.01.                          Similar letters = Not significant.                               Different letters = Significant.                           Bars = SEMean. 

 

 

 

 

 

a
a

a

ab
ab

ab

ab
b

93.5

94

94.5

95

95.5

96

96.5

97

97.5

98

0.0 0.5 1.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0

M
ea

n 
w

at
er

 c
on

te
nt

 p
er

ce
nt

ag
es

 (
%

)

Dilutions of heavy crude oil (% v / v)

**

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Fig. 3.3.   Effect of different dilutions of heavy crude oil on seedling emergence percentages (%) of 
nightshade) seedlings.  

+ = Not significant.                                                                                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0.0 0.5

S
ee

dl
in

g 
em

er
ge

nc
e 

pe
rc

en
ta

ge
s

+

11 

Effect of different dilutions of heavy crude oil on seedling emergence percentages (%) of Solanum nigrum 

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

1.0 2.0 4.0 6.0

Dilutions of heavy  crude oil (% v / v)
 

Solanum nigrum L. (black 

                                                                        Bars = SEMean. 

8.0 10.0

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Table 3.4.   Effect of different dilutions of heavy crude oil on seedling vigor index (SVI) and tolerance index (TI) of Solanum nigrum    

L. (black nightshade) seedlings.   

  * = significant at P< 0.001.                                                               * ** = significant at P< 0.001.                                                               ± = SEMean.                                 

Similar letters = not significant.                                                                                                                                            Different letters = significant.    

Treatment (%) 
Mean values 

 SVI TI 

0.0  
* 

8682a ± 164 
***  

1.0a ± 0.00 

0.5  7070ab ± 922 0.9ab ± 0.07 

1.0  6694ab ± 543 0.8b ± 0.04 

2.0  6227ab ± 867 0.8b ± 0.04 

4.0  5909ab ± 588 0.8b ± 0.02 

6.0  7097ab ± 118 0.8b ± 0.013 

8.0  5586b ± 416 0.8b ± 0.02 

10.0  5631b ± 676 0.8b ± 0.009 

 

     

             

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                   0.0                           0.5                                              1.0                                                          2.0 

 

                       4.0                                    6.0                                       8.0                                             10.0  

  

 

Shows the effect of different dilutions (% v / v) of heavy crude oil on the germination of   Solanum nigrum L. 

(black nightshade) seeds. 

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-ion of polar compounds dissolved in 
water that could penetrate the seed coat 
and prevent the germination process 
(Wang et al., 2000; Adam & Duncan, 
2002). The cessation of seed germination 
by crude oil is in line with previous 
research reports (Anoliefo &Vwioko 
2001; Trapp et al.,  2001 ; Anon, 2003; 
Sharafi et al.,  2007; Malek- Hossein &                                                     
Gholamreza, 2007;  Omosun et al., 2008 ;  
Bamidele & Igiri, 2011 and Debojit et al., 
2011; Sheta Omar et al., 2013; Agbogidi 
& April, 2013). In general, seed 
germination of species used in this work 
was enhanced under the stimulation of 
heavy crude oil. This is might be due to 
the hydrophopicity of heavy oil which 
possesses less solubility in water and 
therefore causes   phytotoxicity.   There is 
however, lack of information on the 
effects of crude oil on some biochemical 
processes such as oxidative stress 
parameters in plant species used in study.   

Seedling performance of plants used in 
this study was measured under different 
dilutions of different of oil compound. 
Seedling growth of Solanum nigrum. 
Plants  that  are  able  to  germinate  
successfully  and tolerate  the 
contaminant  and  show  root  elongation  
are tolerant plants (Ogbo, 2009 & Obj et 
al., 2008). But different seedling 
parameters in terms of fresh and dry 
measures were increased under different 
dilutions of the used oils. The high 
survival rate of these seedlings due to 
their tolerance to the high levels of oil 
compounds (Anoliefo & Edegbai, 2001).  
This stress condition may interfered with 
water absorption and gaseous exchange 
and led to reduction in seedling growth 
which apparent in the decrease of growth 
seedling parameters in poorly aerated 
environment (Quinones-Aquilar et al., 
2003; Bamidele JF. 2010). This can be 
attributed to the decrease in relative water 

content plant dry weight and plant fresh 
weight of corn seedlings as the crude oil 
concentrations increased.  These results 
revealed that both black nightshade and 
wheat showed good performance under 
both types of oil used in the study.  
Impact of stressful conditions of crude oil 
pollution has been shown to have adverse 
effects on plant growth and these may 
range from morphological aberrations, 
reduction in biomass to stomatal 
abnormalities (Victor & Sadiq, 2002).  
Growth reduction could also be explained 
as being due to harmful effects of oil.  
Growth reductions following oil pollution 
of soil have been reported by same 
authors such as Anoliefo & Edegbai 
(2000), of (Odjegba and Sadiq, 2002; 
Baran et al., 2002; Ikhajiagbe and 
Anoliefo, 2011).  Different plants can 
tolerate different levels of petroleum 
hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbon 
contamination of soil reduced plant 
growth but increased microbial activity 
(Xu and Johnson, 1995; wioko & 
Fashemi, 2005). This study has 
demonstrated that crude oil contamination 
of soil has a highly significant effect of a 
reducing the biomass accumulation in 
Jatropha curcas seedlings. This study has 
implication on sustainability of using 
Jatropha curcas as a biodiesel species.  
Crude oil and petroleum products vary 
considerably in their toxicity, and the 
sensitivity to petroleum varies according 
to plant species.  The toxicity of crude oil 
can be interpreted as the toxicity of a 
complex mixture of inorganic and 
organic, chemicals. The observed 
negative  in the germination percentages, 
rate of germination as well as, the growth 
parameters (seedling length , fresh weight 
and biomass production) measured could 
be attributed to the numerous 
hydrocarbons and related compounds 
which are toxic to living organisms 
including plants. Generally, the highest 

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15 
 

performance in terms of percentage 
emergence and seedling development was 
recorded in black nightshade This study 
indicates that both black nightshade and 
wheat have more potential for resistance 
of crude oil concentrations and they can 
be used as promising tools for 
phytoremediation technology.  Plant that 
tolerates higher concentrations of crude 
oil includes Solanum nigrum L. (black 
nightshade) weed plant species.  This type 
of plants are recommended to be used as 
phytoremedation models especially the 
weed Solanum nigarum for cleaning up 
areas polluted with heavy crude oil 
residues this is propably due to its toxic 
contents of secandry metabolites that may 
counteats that hanful effects of these 
compounds used in the presend work.  
The influence of heavy crude oil upon 
different target plant species used in this 
research was not clearly pronounced 
(different) ie all plant species were not 
affected by the applications of heavy 
crude oil residues.  This might be due to 
that heavy oil is more viscous and less 
soluble in water. 

Summary and conclusions 

The effected of crude oil (heavy) was 
examined for seed germination and 
seedling performance in the case of seed 
measures of Solanum nigrum L. (black 
nightshade). Was enhanced under of 
heavy crude oil compound.  Furthermore, 
seedling performance was noticed to be 
good in residues of Solanum nigrum 
under heavy crude oil compound. Based 
on the obtained results, it is indicated that 
black nightshade have more potential for 
resistance to heavy crude oil 
concentrations and can be used as 
promising tools for phytoremediation 
technology.  Solanum nigrum L. (black 
nightshade) as a weed plant species.  Is 
recommended to be used as 

phytoremedation model for cleaning up 
areas polluted  with crude oil. 

 
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