Enrofloxacin and Ciprofloxacin Uptake by Plants from Soil
¹Department of Food Science and Hygiene, Estonian University of Life Sciences,
Kreutzwaldi 58A, 51014 Tartu, Estonia
²Department of Environmental Protection, Tartu College of Tallinn University of
Technology, Puiestee 78, 51008 Tartu, Estonia, e-mail: lembit.nei@ttu.ee
³Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life
Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 64, 51014 Tartu, Estonia
Abstract:
Very small amounts of pharmaceuticals present in everyday food may generate
strains of resistant microorganisms in human and animal organisms. This study involves the
uptake and accumulation of some widely used fluoroquinolones – enrofloxacin and
ciprofloxacin – by plants cultivated in soil augmented with drugs using the microbiological agar
diffusion method. Bacillus subtilis was used as the test bacterium. The three plants chosen for
the experiment were lettuce (Lactuca sativa), common barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and
cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), which were cultivated in a laboratory in soils mixed with enroor
ciprofloxacin at nominal concentrations of 500, 200, 50 and 10 µg/g. The concentrations of
fluoroquinolones remained unchanged in the soil during the experiment. The presence of
enrofloxacin was detected in all plants grown at enrofloxacin concentrations of 500, 200 and 50
µg/g. The presence of ciprofloxacin was only detected in barley and cucumber grown in soil
with a base concentration of 500 µg/g. In lettuce, which had a longer vegetation period, the
presence of ciprofloxacin was detected at all concentrations. The content of ciprofloxacin in the
lettuce was 44 µg/g at a soil concentration of 10 µg/g: fluoroquinolones accumulate in a plant
during the vegetation period.
Key words:
Bacillus subtilis, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, microbiological agar-diffusion method, pharmaceutical residue, plant uptake