ABSTRACT The experimental material was made up by the plant organs of Brassica napus L. from a pot experiment during one vegetation period. There was investigated the effect of relatively high concentration of zinc, copper, lead and cadmium in soil on the rapeseed yield, the content of protein and oil in seeds. The impact of metals was defined based on the content of selected fatty acids in oil extracted from seeds. The highest contents of zinc and copper were found in leaves, lead - in roots and cadmium - in stems. The biological concentration factor values were respectively calculated for all the rapeseed organs. For Cu and Pb the values of biological concentration factor were low and very low for all the plant organs. The doses of Zn (300 mg × kg-1, 600 mg × kg-1) and Cu (80 mg × kg-1, 160 mg × kg-1) applied in the pot experiment resulted in the translocation of metals from the roots to the leaves. The doses of lead (400 mg × kg-1, 1600 mg × kg-1) did not trigger any translocation of that metal from the roots to the above-ground rapeseed plant parts, however, after the application of the cadmium doses (2 mg × kg-1, 6 mg × kg-1), there was recorded a clear translocation of Cd to the rapeseed stems and the leaves. A relatively high content of zinc, copper, lead and cadmium in soil had a significant effect neither on the yield parameters and nor on the qualitative characters of the rapeseed seed. Neither did they affect the content of protein, fat and fatty acids in seed-extracted oil. The results of the pot experiment suggest that spring rapeseed is suitable for the phytoremediation of moderately heavy-metalcontaminated soils.

W doświadczeniu wegetacyjnym założonym w hali wegetacyjnej Uniwersytetu Technologiczno-Przyrodniczego w Bydgoszczy badano możliwość wykorzystania rożnika przerośniętego (Silphium perfoliatum L.) w fitoremediacji gleb zanieczyszczonych ołowiem i kadmem. Wykazano, iż roślina ta w czasie jednego roku wegetacji pobrała niewielkie ilości ołowiu oraz nie stwierdzono zmian w zawartości kadmu w roślinach w czasie trwania doświadczenia. Rożnik przerośnięty zakumulował w nadziemnych częściach wegetatywnych od 10,77 do 29,26 mg Pb·kg-1 s.m. Zawartość ołowiu w badanych roślinach była istotnie wyższa niż w roślinach kontrolnych. Stwierdzono, że wraz ze wzrostem dawki zastosowanego ołowiu i kadmu następowało istotne zmniejszenie plonu świeżej masy badanych roślin. Uzyskane wyniki wskazują na ograniczone możliwości wykorzystania badanej rośliny w procesie fitoremediacji, przy czym zebrany materiał roślinny może być wykorzystany do produkcji kiszonek na biogaz.

The total content of phenolic compounds and DPPH• radical scavenging were determined in the aerial parts of three selected grass species: Miscanthus sinensis, dichanthium caucasicum derived from the collection of grasses at the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (IHAR), Botanical Garden in Bydgoszcz and Phragmites australis derived from natural source. In general, the average amount of polyphenols in selected species: 1.1795±0.1608; 1.4108±0.1086; 0.8103±0.0335 (M. sinensis; d. caucasicum; P. australis, respectively) was low. The DPPH• radical scavenging activity (%) in each investigated sample was also relatively low: 27.00±1.98; 21.22±1.14%; 15.89±0.49 (M. sinensis; d. caucasicum; P. australis respectively).

Chemical composition of forage from two varieties of switch grass (Panicum virgatum L.) was determined at different stages of vegetation. Changes in contents of some chemical compounds were noted during plants growth and development. Crude protein content decreased while structural carbohydrates (crude fiber, neutral detergent fibre – NDF, acid detergent fiber) increased during vegetation progress. ‘Forestburg’ variety has significantly higher NDF content as compared to ‘Dacotah’ variety. Water soluble carbohydrates content decreased together with plant growth and development. Forage from switch grass varieties ensiled quite easy. Silage quality ranged from good (silage with supplements P II and P IV) to satisfactory (supplements P I and P III). All silages, except silage with supplement P IV, were stable during oxidative test.