Noronha, F.R.Manikandan, S.K.Nair, N.2026-02-042022Journal of Environmental Management, 2022, 302, , pp. -3014797https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114057https://idr.nitk.ac.in/handle/123456789/22709The contamination of soil with heavy metals is known to affect the yield the soil fertility, which in turn affects the growth of agricultural crops. This study investigates the role of coconut shell biochar (CSB) and earthworms (Eudrilus euginea) in the bioremediation and growth of Palak spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) in cadmium (Cd) contaminated soil. The soils were amended with different combinations of CSB and earthworms and incubated for 35 days. Later, the soil samples were analyzed for the changes in the soil properties, soil enzyme activity, and heavy metal contents. It is observed that the treatments with both CSB and earthworms resulted in the improvement of soil properties and soil enzyme activity which was directly related to soil fertility. Meanwhile, the maximum removal of 94.38% of total Cd content in the soil was obtained for the soil sample contain both CSB and earthworms. The improved soil properties resulted in a higher germination percentage of Spinacia oleracea L. seeds in the Cd contaminated soil. © 2021 Elsevier LtdBiotechnologyCadmiumContaminationCropsEnzyme activitySeedSoil pollutionSoil pollution controlSoil surveysSoilsBiocharCoconut shellsContaminated soilsEarthwormGrowth studiesHeavy metal contaminationPlant growthPlant growth studySoil fertilitySpinacia oleraceaBioremediation4 nitrophenyl phosphatebeta glucosidasecadmiumcarbonheavy metaloxygenphosphatasesoil organic mattertoluenebiocharcharcoalbioremediationearthwormgrowthleafy vegetableshellsoil pollutionsoil remediationadsorptionArticleelectric conductivityenzyme activityEudrilusEudrilus eugineaFourier transform infrared spectroscopygerminationgermination ratenonhumanplant growthroot lengthscanning electron microscopyseedlingshoot lengthsoil aciditysoil fertilitysoil propertyspinachanimalcoconutOligochaetasoilsoil pollutantAnimalsBiodegradation, EnvironmentalCharcoalCocosMetals, HeavySoilSoil Pollutants