Vitamin C Helps Protect Plants From Smog

Scientists say supplementing vitamin C in plants helps them survive effects of ozone — smog’s particularly nasty component.

The University of California-Riverside researchers said the affects of smog on people and plants are well known. But Professor Daniel Gallie discovered increasing vitamin C levels in plant leafs reduces brown spots, stunted size, and lowered crop yields produced by exposure to smog.

Gallie’s previous research found plants react to smog as they do to drought, by closing pores called stomata which are present in their leaves. Although the closed pores protect plants from losing water and taking in ozone, they also prevent photosynthesis, which is necessary for plant growth.

It’s clearly not an effective strategy to protect plants from the effects of long-term exposure to smog, Gallie said. But the antioxidant qualities of vitamin C detoxifies the ozone that enters through open stomata and also protects the photosynthetic process in the leaf.

Gallie and Assistant Research Biochemist Zhong Chen said the findings offer a strategy toward developing plants that will be able to grow and thrive in high-ozone environments, such as cities and suburban areas.

The research appears in the journal Plant Physiology.