A comparative study of the influence of two different organic substrates on the biochemical factors of earthworms Lampito mauritii and Eudrilus euginiae

Abstract

From the bio-chemical standpoint, living beings have two types of components. Organic components such as Carbohydrate, Protein and Lipid comprise the chief constituents of animal. These components comprise of about 90% of the organic matter and remaining 10% being inorganic. Whatever be the nature of food material, it should have the supply of these components in adequate quantities, which are necessary for growth and metabolism. Earthworms being an important group of soil inhabiting invertebrates play a significant role in the soil and litter subsystem. Earthworms need the usual major and minor nutrients required for cell development. Developmental processes of earthworms are actually affected by differential distribution and accumulation of organic as well as inorganic chemical variables. Different earthworm species have different concentration of biochemical constituents within their tissues. Distillery effluents are said to have nutrients. The higher concentration of distillery effluents cause severe damage to flora and fauna. But at lower concentrations they are beneficial for the growth of plants and soil organisms like earthworms. Hence from the experimental results it is found that the sublethal concentration of distillery effluent showed alteration in biochemical factors of Lampito mauritii and Eudrilus euginiae. The values are statistically significant.