Table 1_Influence of irrigation regime and microbial consortium application on pharmaceutical uptake in durum wheat irrigated with treated wastewater.docx

All PhACs were below their respective limits of quantification (LOQs) in grain, indicating negligible transfer to the edible fraction under environmentally relevant exposure conditions. Carbamazepine and its transformation products showed preferential accumulation in roots, with low translocation factors, confirming the ability of durum wheat to restrict contaminant movement toward aboveground tissues. Microbial inoculation further enhanced root retention and reduced residual concentrations, particularly of transformation products associated with CBZ and CLR, suggesting a potential contribution of microbial inoculation to contaminant attenuation in the soil–plant system.

Irrigation regime influenced contaminant dynamics by modulating the overall mass input of PhACs into the soil, with lower irrigation volumes resulting in reduced residual concentrations. Despite transient reductions in gas exchange parameters under the highest TWW irrigation treatments, crop productivity was not negatively affected. Conversely, microbial inoculation influenced yield mainly under freshwater irrigation, where a slight reduction was observed, while no yield penalties occurred under TWW application.

Overall, these findings demonstrate that, in the short term, the integration of appropriate irrigation management, microbial inoculation, and crop selection can support the sustainable reuse of TWW while limiting contaminant accumulation in edible plant fractions, confirming durum wheat as a low-transfer crop for PhACs.</p>