Description:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
<jats:p>The influence of pollutants on the spectral properties of common buckwheat (<jats:italic>Fagopyrum esculentum</jats:italic>) has been investigated insufficiently, compared to the cereals from the <jats:italic>Poaceae</jats:italic> family. A two-stage spectral survey has been carried out, growing common buckwheat in containers with set concentrations of copper(II) sulfate in soil both in laboratory conditions and in the open air. Spectral distributions of diffuse reflectance of the plants were registered in the range of 400 – 1100 nm, and spectral indices were calculated, using wavelengths corresponding to spectral features of plant pigments. Simultaneously, digital photos were taken to account for projective cover of the plants. Four spectral indices were found to depend quantitatively on pollutant concentration, three of them taking extreme values at the time of maximal projective cover. When growing buckwheat in the open air, lower temperatures and higher irradiation lead to closer values of spectral indices corresponding to different copper concentration, than in laboratory conditions. The results show the usability of common buckwheat as an indicator of soil pollution by copper.</jats:p>