The phytostimulation is a phytoremediation technique that can be used to remediate area contaminated with herbicides. It is necessary to select plants with high capacity to stimulate soil microbial activity. The present work aimed at evaluating seven plant species regarding their ability to phytostimulate soil and enhance the degradation of the herbicides imazethapyr, imazapic and imazapyr in a lowland soil. An Alfisol Albaqualf was cultivated with the following species, Canavalia ensiformis, Glycine max, Oryza sativa cultivar PUITÁ INTA CL, Lolium multiflorum, Vicia sativa and consortium Lotus corniculatus + Trifolium repens. The rhizosphere of these plants and non-rhizospheric (uncultivated soil) as a control were contaminated in laboratory with analytical standart of the three herbicides, at rates of 0, 150, 300 and 750 g a.i. ha-1, in separate assays. Biodegradation was estimated by quantifying C-CO2 production and through analysis of herbicides residues in soil using liquid chromatography. Results show that biodegradation of herbicides imazethapyr, imazapic and imazapyr was higher in vegetated soil than in unvegetated soil. The leguminous species Canavalia ensiformis, Glycine max, Vicia sativa and consortium of Lotus corniculatus + Trifolium repens showed a great capacity to promote soil microbial, resulting in average biodegradation rates of 91, 92 and 93% for herbicides imazethapyr, imazapic and imazapyr in soil, respectively.
Keywords: Imazethapyr; imazapic; imazapyr; phytoremediation; rhizosphere.