Alexandra Jaegy 10:06 a.m., August 2, 2022, modified at 10:07 a.m., August 2, 2022
It is one of the most harmful plants in the world.
And yet, Provence cane has an extraordinary property: it is able to depollute the soils most impregnated with heavy metals and chemicals.
A discovery made ten years ago by researcher Claude Grison.
The cane of Provence resembles a reed or a bamboo, but does not have the nobility.
It measures from one to six meters, depending on the variety.
This plant has a particularity: it knows how to clean up the soil.
She kind of eats heavy metals.
An astonishing discovery made ten years ago by a French chemist.
One of the most harmful plants in the world
Next to her laboratory, researcher Claude Grison cuts the thick, green stems of Provence cane.
These plants are among the most harmful in the world.
And yet, they are now used to clean up the soils of old factories, often impregnated with heavy metals and chemicals.
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Depolluting molecules
"I actually discovered a plant that I always find brilliant and which has this property of developing on very, very contaminated soil", she explains at the microphone of Europe 1. "It is able to extract the zinc from the soil, to store it in its leaves, to survive when all the other plants are gone".
A miracle plant that Claude Grison reduces to powder.
Bringing together chemistry and ecology was precisely the researcher's challenge.
"In fact, it's really great for scientific ecology, it's efficient. With solutions based on nature, we can compete with conventional chemistry. I have very good encouragement for all these techniques", confides she on Europe 1. For two years, Claude Grison has been selling his depolluting molecules to cosmetic, pharmaceutical and chemical companies.