Lignins and Polyphenols in Bioremediation

Bioremediation by definition is concerned with the fate and, if necessary, removal of unwanted organic chemicals from soil and/or water. At present, bioremediation is considered as a less expensive alternative to physical and chemical means of degradation of organic pollutants. It deals with substances that are anthropogenic, distributed in nature and recalcitrant. At the same time, it is not lacked of interest to involve the bioremediation to improve some properties of the soils. The lignins are biosynthesized in plants to carry out different functions, such as storage of energy, bonding agent between plant cells, protection agent against microorganisms, antioxidant, and hydrophobic agent. Lignin is an important precursor for stabilized soil organic carbon. Terrestrial ecosystems that produce large amounts of lignin are thought to have high potential for sequestering carbon which can decrease global warming by reducing atmospheric CO

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. After the death of the plants, their compounds are transformed at the soil level with humus formation. Based on biological transformation some utilization of lignins could be developed among other things such as crop cultivation and bioremediation (Abaecherli and Popa, 2005).