Kumari, GitanjaleeSrivastava, Rajani2025-01-272025-01-272022979-888697027-2; 978-168507836-2https://dl.bhu.ac.in/ir/handle/123456789/13306Soil is a vital life-supporting element on earth. Due to natural and anthropogenic factors, this limited natural resource is under continuous threat of degradation. Toxic organic and inorganic pollutants contaminate the soil and affect the soil microbial diversity, thereby causing a decline in soil nutrient reserve. Degradation of soil quality affects the vegetation and so, it has a direct impact on food security. With the rapid growth of population and industrialization, the rate of degradation of soil is also accelerating. Hence, assessing soil health and restoring the pristine quality of soil is the need of the hour. Microorganisms present in soil can bio-mineralize or bio-transform the contaminants into simpler, less toxic, or immobile forms. Organic matter which is a potential contaminant of soil can act as a source of carbon and energy or acts as co-substrates for microbes. Therefore, they metabolize them into products such as carbon dioxide, water, etc. But optimum environmental conditions are necessary for the proper growth and functioning of soil microbes. These microorganisms are sensitive to environmental conditions and can potentially indicate soil quality. On providing optimal growth conditions, the metabolic capacity of these microbes can be exploited to degrade the toxicants. Hence, the bioremediation process can be an effective method of degrading soil pollutants which has a major advantage of cost-effectiveness over other physical and chemical methods of remediation. � 2022 Nova Science Publishers, Inc..Bio-mineralizeBioremediationBiotransformCo-substratesSoil contaminationSoil microbial diversityBook chapter