Intercropping Pteris cretica and Spinacia oleracea L. with Peanut Enhances Arsenic Removal and Soil Remediation Pteris cretica and Spinacia oleracea L. Intercropped with Arachis hypogaea (Peanut) Reduce Soil Arsenic Content and Valorize Arsenic-Contaminated Soil

Rakhwe Kama ¹ Farhan Nabi ¹ Maimouna Aidara ² Peiyi Huang ¹ Muslim Qadir ¹ Sekouna Diatta ² Chonhjiang Ma ^3* Li Huashou ^1*

• ¹ South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
• ² Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
• ³ Heny Fok School of Biology and Agriculture, ShaoGuan University, Shaoguan, China

Arsenic (As) exposure through agricultural soil contamination poses significant health risks and threatens food securitysubstantial potential health risks to humans and food security. This study explored the efficacy of hyperaccumulator plant diversity and intercropping systems in enhancing arsenic (As)As removal from contaminated soil while simultaneously reducing As uptake in peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.). Thus, a pot experiment was conducted using As-contaminated soil, peanut plants, and hyperaccumulator species as experimental materials. The experimental treatments were:included monocultured peanut (Ck), intercropped peanut with Pteris cretica. (P*Pc), intercropped peanut with Spinacia oleracea L. (P*So), and intercropped peanut with Pteris cretica, and Spinacia oleracea L. (P*Pc*So). Our findings reveal that intercropping system significantly reduced soil As levels compared to monocroppingthe concentration of total As in soil was reduced under the peanut/hyperaccumulator plant intercropping system compared to monocropped peanut. In addition, peanut As uptake was significantly decreased under hyperaccumulator plants' presence with enhanced effects under hyperaccumulator plants diversity, minimizing the risk of As transfer to the food chain. Moreover, the As removal rate was higher under intercropping than monocropping with the highest removal rate of 88% under intercropped peanut/Pteris cretica/Spinacia oleracea L., followed by peanut/Spinacia oleracea L. (81%) and peanut/Pteris cretica (80%). The results highlight the potential of using hyperaccumulator plant diversity and intercropping systems as sustainable and practical approaches for the remediation of As-contaminated soils while ensuring food safety.The results demonstrate the potential of using diverse hyperaccumulator plants and intercropping systems as sustainable and effective methods for remediating As-contaminated soils while simultaneously ensuring food safety. However further researches are is needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms driving these effects and optimize the phytoremediation of As-contaminated soil and crop production.