A study on the activities of a few free radicals scavenging enzymes present in five roadside plants.

The road side plants are continuously exposed to the high levels of oxides of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide, emitted from automobile. Resistance to automobile exhaust pollution was studied with Nerium indicum Mill, Boerhaavia diffusa L., Amaranthus spinosus L., Cephalandra indica Naud., and Tabernaemontana divaricata L., growing on the edges of Delhi Road, National Highway 2 (NH 2) near Dankuni, West Bengal. By analysing the activities of a few enzymes like superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase and phenolic peroxidase, it appears that among the five plants examined,Amaranthus and Cephalandra are equipped with a very good scavenging system to combat effects of air pollution.