NASA RECOMMENDED PLANT

 

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                              Tradescantia pallida

Tradescantia pallida is an evergreen perennial plant of scrambling stature. It is distinguished by elongated, pointed leaves - themselves glaucous green, sometimes fringed with red or purple - and bearing small, sterile three-petaled flowers of white, pink or purple. Plants are top-killed by moderate frosts, but will often sprout back from roots.

The cultivar T. pallida 'Purpurea' has purple leaves and pink flowers

Studies

• Anthocyanins Pigments / Food Colorant: T pallida contained two major anthocyanins. The pigments may have potential as food colorants. 
• Phytoremediation / Indoor Air-Purifying Plant: VOQs (volatile organic compounds including benzene, xylene, hexane, heptane, octane, decane, trichlorethylene (TCE) and methylene chloride) have been known to cause or aggravate various illnesses when people are exposed to them in indoor spaces. Studies have shown the ability of some plants to remove VOCs, a process called "phytoremediation." Of 28 species tested with 5 volatile indoor pollutants - benzene and toluene (plastics, cleaning solutions, environmental tobacco smoke), octane (paints, adhesive materials), TCE (tap water, cleaning agents, insecticides), and alpha-pinene (synthetic pains and odorants) - Hemigraphis alternata, Hedera helix, Hoya carnosa, Asparagus densiflorus had the highest removal rates for all the VOCs introduced. Tradescantia pallida (purple heart) was given a superior rating for its ability to remove four of the five VOCs. 
• Environmental Pollution Biomonitoring: Study showed the viability of using Tradescantia pallida in environmental pollution biomonitoring. All metals were detected in the dry biomass of the plants which suggests potential of the species as a bioindicator of environmental pollution. 
• Sensitivity to Genotoxicity Induced by Ozone: Study evaluated the sensitivity of T. pallida to genotoxicity induced by ozone by MCN (micronucleus) bioassay, to verify whether the intensity of genotoxic responses in inflorescences and the conditions that conditions that affect its modulation. 
• Chromium Accumulator / Antioxidant: Tradescantia pallida was screened to be a potent chromium accumulator. Lipid peroxidation, catalase, peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase enzyme activities played an important role in overcoming Cr-induced oxidative stress on the plant. 
• Lipid Peroxidation / Bioindicator to Air Pollutants: Study showed Tradescantia pallida serves both as bioindicator of genotoxic substances and oxidizing contaminants. It is also capable of accumulating trace elements in their leaf tissue. 
• Antibacterial / Antioxidant / Leaves: Study sought to quantify the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of five Commelinaceae methanolic leaf extracts. T. pallida yielded TPC of 153.1 ±21.8 mg GAE/100g, TTC (total tannin content) 13.6 ± 2.1 mg TAE/100g, TFC 10.6 ± 4.0 mg RE/100g, FRS (free radical scavenging) 103.0 ± 36.9, and FRP (ferric reducing power) 0.9 — 0.1 mg/GAE/gm. T. pallida showed significant activity against two Gram-negative bacteria (MIC 5 mg/mL) despite having the lowest antioxidant content and activity. 
• Chitin-Binding Lectin / Antifungal and Antiviral / Apoptosis-Inducing / Rhizome: Study isolated a 48 kDa, chitin-binding lectin with antifungal, antiviral, and apoptosis-inducing activities from the rhizome of Setcreasea purpurea. The lectin exhibited strong hemagglutinating activity towards rabbit erythrocytes. It showed anti-fungal activity against Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Penicillium italicum and Helminthosporiun maydis. It also showed inhibitory effect on HIV-1 (IIIB) and HIV-2 (ROD). The SPL was highly cytotoxic to CNE-1 cells and induced apoptosis in a dose dependent manner. 
• Cytotoxic, Analgesic and Antioxidant Activities: Study evaluated the phytochemical and pharmacological activities of Murdannia nudiflora and Tradescantia pallida. Phytochemical screening yielded carbohydrate, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, and flavonoids. Cytotoxic analysis of TP by in vitro brine shrimp lethality assay showed a LC50 of 833.85 µg/ml, quite low compared to vincristine sulphate. Antioxidant study by DPPH radical scavenging ranged from 95.238% to 84.127%, compared to ascorbic acid ranges from 96.825% to 87.302%. Evaluation of analgesic activity using in vivo acetic acid induced writhing method showed mean inhibition of writhing was statistically significant (p<0.001) at 59.57% at 100 mg/kbw.  An analgesic study of P. pallida revealed significant inhibition of writhing upon induction of pin by acetic acid (p<0.05).
• Antioxidant / Analgesic / Antibacterial: Plant concentration for LC50 was 833.85 µg/ml. Free radical scavenging capacity (mg/100g of ascorbic acid) was 97.15 ± 0.96. In antioxidant potential, T. pallida showed an IC50 of 5.48x10 µg/ml with ascorbic acid at 4.209x10 µg/ml. Analgesic potential of crude extract using acetic acid induced writhing was statistically significant (p<0.05), inhibiting writhing by 54.55% at 200 mg/kbw. A leaf extract showed various degree of zones of inhibition (5-10 mm) against gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms, with a 10 mm ZOI against Staphylococcus epidermis. 
• Zinc Nanoparticles / Luminescence Property / Cytotoxicity Against Cervical Cancer Line: Study reports on the easy synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using T. pallida. The NPs exhibited good photoluminescence with correlation to ZnO crystals. MTT assay showed significant toxicity against HeLa cervical cancer cell line. 
• Extraction of Eco-Friendly Natural Dye: Study evaluated methanolic extracts of Tradescantia pallida purpurea and C. coccineum as sources of natural dyes for textile dyeing. Total phenolic content and total flavanoid content for T. pallida showed values equal to 33 mg GAE/g extract and 4.88 mg QE/g extract. Polyphenolic compound are the most important functional components of the plants. The extracts were also rich in flavonoids, known for their coloring power when applied to textile material. T. pallida provides a pH dependent color: red at pH3 and yellow at pH8. 

• Antioxidant / a-glucosidase inhibitory / Antibacterial: the ethyl acetate fraction of crude methanol extract of T. pallida showed remarkable antioxidant activity, a-glucosidase inhibitory activity and antimicrobial activity. 
• Biomonitoring of Vehicle Exhaustion and Benzene Derivatives: Study evaluated the increased frequency of micronuclei (MN) in T. pallida exposed to potentially toxic environments. Results showed an increased frequency of MN in pollen grains of T. pallida in environment with severe vehicular exhaust and manipulation of benzene derivations. The increase frequency of micronuclei correlated with local exposure time.
• Mutagenesis as Biomarker of Effects of Water Polluted Urban Effluent: Study evaluated the toxicity of effluent released in to the Tiete River, Sao Paoli State using the micronucleus test with T. pallida. Results showed statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between groups, indicating genotoxicity of the effluent. 
• Low-Dose Radiation Warning / Biosensor Plant: The stamen-hair system of Tradescantia for flower color has proven to be one of the most suitable materials to study for mutations induced by low doses of ionizing radiations and chemical mutagens. The highest number of stamens with pink cells was recorded from flowers irradiated with the highest dose of 6.37Gy with 0.07Gy/h of dose rate. Tradescantia pallida can be regarded as a biosensor plant or a biological warning signal for exposure to low dose radiation which exhibited noticeable quantity of cell alteration in a short time following radiation exposure. The method can be recommended for radiation monitoring, environmental acclimatization, and the prevention of radiological accidents. 

BONNIE SPIDER 

The 1989 NASA Clean Air Study is often cited as proof that houseplants can remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air. Indeed, this study shows that houseplants, including spider plants, can remove formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene from the air. However, it’s not the only study out there!A 1984 study examined how plants could help remove formaldehyde, a common indoor pollutant, from the air. They chose golden pothos, nephthytis, and a spider plant as their test plants. Results showed that spider plants were the most effective at removing formaldehyde.More recent studies support spider plants’ ability to remove formaldehyde from the air. It’s important to note that soil microorganisms associated with spider plants have a significant role in air filtration.While spider plants do remove air pollutants, most studies perform experiments in small, sealed chambers. That means the impact of one plant in a room would be minuscule.While some plants cannot grow in soils contaminated with heavy metals like lead, spider plants can. One study showed that spider plants could grow well in soils that contained up to 500 mg lead per kg of dry soil.Another study showed that spider plants might be helpful plants for lead phytoremediation. They remove lead from the soil and also have the benefits of high biomass and low cost.