Phytoremediation in Food Safety: Risks and Prospects

Phytoremediation is the process that uses plants to remove pollutants from soils. These pollutants are stored in the edible parts of plants and, if they are consumed above a certain level, they become a health risk for humans and animals. This book is a critical review of phytoremediation, its direct or indirect effects on food products, and the risks posed by this cost-effective technology in food safety. It shows how different plants are suited for phytoremediation, explains the role of toxicants in the environment, and analyses their effects and risks in the food chain at a global level. It also reviews the extraction methods of toxicants from plants after they are exposed to phytoremediation.

Features:

• Summarizes the phytoremediation technology for effective remediation
• Describes different types of pollutants in soils that render food products useless
• Identifies the role of phytoremediation in the environment and its advantages and disadvantages
• Explains the role of phytoexclusion and phytostabilization in foods and food safety
• Includes many case studies to describe the extraction protocols in postharvest for food safety

This book is intended for practitioners in public and private companies involved in soil remediation and food production, as well as graduate students and academics, in both developed and developing countries, who are involved in soil and environmental sciences, the food industry, agriculture, and biotechnology.

Dr. Sesan Abiodun Aransiola is a Ph.D holder in Environmental Microbiology in the Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria. He obtained his first degree (B.Tech) and Master’s Degree (M.Tech) from the same department in 2009 and 2014 respectively. Currently, he is a Lecturer at the Department of Microbiology, University of Abuja, Nigeria. His area of interest is Environmental Microbiology with a research area in phytoremediation, vermicomposting, biosorption, and bioremediation of soil-contaminated environments. He is an award-winning researcher and has over 70 publications including book chapters, research, and review articles of good international repute with high impact factor. He has worked to the rank of an assistant chief scientific officer at the Bioresources Development Centre, National Biotechnology Development Agency, Nigeria

Dr. Naga Raju Maddela is a Professor at the Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Portoviejo, Ecuador. He received his M.Sc. in 1998 and his Ph.D. in 2012 in Microbiology from Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapuramu, India. He worked as Prometeo Investigator at Universidad Estatal Amazónica, Ecuador from 2013 to 2015, and was on Postdoctoral Fellowship at Sun Yat-sen University, China from 2016 to 2018. He has participated in national and international conferences and has presented research data in China, Cuba, Ecuador, India, and Singapore. He has been actively publishing scientific articles, books, and chapters, both authored and edited, since 2007. He has published 80 articles, 10 books, and 40 book chapters.