Pectin is a natural biopolymer with broad applications in the food industry and it is suitable to prepare edible films to prolong food shelf-life. However, the main limitation of pectin-based films is their poor mechanical and barrier properties. Zeolite Y is a hydrophobic clay that can be used as film reinforcement material to improve its physicochemical and mechanical properties. In this work, the influence of high methoxyl citrus and apple pectin on physicochemical properties of biopolymer films modified with zeolite Y (0.05–0.2 wt%) was investigated. The films were characterized by FTIR, TGA, WAXD, mechanical analysis, and water vapor permeability analysis, and a potential film application is presented. The WAXD and FTIR analysis demonstrated that the strongest interaction between pectin chains and zeolite Y occurred when citrus high methylated pectin was used. Adding 0.2 wt% of zeolite Y into citrus high methylated pectin matrix enhanced the tensile strength by 66%, thermal stability by 13%, and water vapor barrier by 54%. In addition, fruit shelf-life test was performed, where strawberries were sealed in film. It was shown that sealed strawberries maintained a better color and healthy appearance than the control treatment after 7 days at 10 °C. This study enabled the development of biocomposite films with improved properties for potential application in food packaging.
This study aimed to evaluate the possibility of lemon peel, as an agro-industrial waste, to remove Fe2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+ ions from single aqueous solutions and mining wastewater. For this purpose, the influence of various parameters: sorption time, initial pH solution, initial metal ion concentration and a dose of sorbent on the sorption process were studied in batch experiments. The experimental equilibrium data have been analysed utilizing linearized forms of Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms. The Langmuir isotherm provided the best theoretical correlation of the experimental equilibrium data for Fe2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+ ions, with the maximum sorption capacities of 4.40, 5.03 and 4.52 mg g-1, respectively. The percentage of targeted ions removal from single aqueous solutions was 92.9 % (Zn2+), 84.5 % (Fe2+) and 78.2 % (Mn2+). Regarding the sorption capability of lemon peel in mining wastewater, the maximum removal of Fe2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+ ions from mining wastewater was 49.62, 33.97 and 9.11 %, respectively. In addition, the potential reusability of the lemon peel as sorbent was investigated through desorption study in 0.1M of CH3COO4, HCl and HNO3 solution. The highest rate of desorption was achieved in 0.1 M HCl solution, reached a value of 55.19 % for Mn2+ and 37.24 % for Zn2+, while for Fe2+ the highest value of 25.82 % was achieved in 0.1M HNO3 solution. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. III43009, Grant no. III45012 and Grant no. III45001]
In this research, the pectin monoliths were prepared via the sol-gel process through different routes of crosslinking and additional freeze-drying. The crosslinking reaction was induced by the use of calcium ions in aqueous solutions and in alcohol/water solutions. The resulting pectin monoliths obtained by freeze-drying were macroporous with open cells, limited specific surface area, moderate mechanical stability and moderate biodegradation rate. The presence of alcohol in crosslinking solution significantly changed the morphology of final pectin monoliths, which was evidenced by the reduction of their pore size for one order. The specific surface area of pectin monoliths obtained through the calcium-water-alcohol route was 25.7 m2/g, the Young compressive modulus was 0.52 MPa, and the biodegradation rate was 45% after 30 days of immersion in compost media. Considering that pectin can be obtained from food waste, and its physical properties could be tailored by different crosslinking routes, the pectin monoliths could find wide application in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, medical and food industries, providing sustainable development concepts.
In this work, the reliability of image analysis for the numerical evaluation of Basic Red 46 (BR 46) dye adsorption process was studied. The image analysis was carried out on dye adsorbed onto SBA‐15 mesoporous silica, by use of Image‐Pro Plus software. Pixel‐specific calibration curves were derived and used to obtain dye concentration from the three different primary color channels (red, green, and blue) recorded at each pixel. In order to establish credibility of this method for quantification of adsorption processes, these data were compared with dye adsorption parameters obtained by UV‐vis analysis. Among the three different primary color channels, the best results were obtained when the blue color channel was applied. In this case, the average relative error was 0.86%. The obtained results showed that a dye adsorbed on SBA‐15 can be determined with the use of Image‐Pro Plus with the same sensitivity as with the use of spectrophotometric analysis for the determination of changes in dye concentration during the adsorption process.
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