Biochar as a sustainable alternative to açaí waste disposal in Amazon, Brazil

Abstract

The açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea Mart) is native to the floodplains of central and South America and is cultivated in Brazil for its berries, which are considered to be a 'superfood'. The waste açaí fiber and seeds obtained after fruit processing pose a challenge since they remain unutilised despite being an abundant waste by-product of açaí processing.This leads to a build-up of waste, regular dumping and environmental management challenges. Here we examine the potential use of açaí seed biochar as a soil conditioner. The biochar was produced from waste seeds in a handmade kiln, incorporated into two soils of different textures and then compacted in volumetric rings with a hydraulic press. The samples were kept in a greenhouse for a 270-day incubation period. After this, the samples were evaluated for their soil physical and chemical attributes. Nine months after the application of the açaí seed biochar, soil physical properties were not affected, except for the soil aggregate size distribution, for which the highest dosage resulted in a larger weighted average diameter. However, biochar increased phosphorus, potassium and magnesium contents, and reduced the aluminum content, which was reflected in an increase of the base saturation and a reduction in aluminum saturation. Therefore, within a relatively short time period, the biochar was found to improve soil chemical quality more so than soil physical properties, thus offering potential as a sustainable solution to manage açaí waste in the Amazon region.

Biochar and bio-oil fuel properties from nickel nanoparticles assisted pyrolysis of cassava peel

“…Specifically, biochar emanating from biomass has broad areas of applications (Shrivastava and Srivastava, 2021). Furthermore, biochar is a highly porous and carbon-rich solid used predominantly as fuel which had been widely investigated as a result of its vast applications in different fields (Howell et al, 2021;Muhammad et al, 2022;Peng et al, 2021;Sato et al, 2020;.…”

“…Furthermore, biochar is a highly porous and carbon-rich solid used predominantly as fuel which had been widely investigated as a result of its vast applications in different fields ( Howell et al., 2021 ; Muhammad et al., 2022 ; Peng et al., 2021 ; Sato et al., 2020 ; Singh et al., 2021 ). Although biochar can be utilized as an adsorbent for wastewater treatment ( Della et al., 2020 ), it is also an effective material in carbon sequestration and soil enrichment to improve the nutrients and water holding capacity of the soil ( Selvarajoo et al., 2022 ).…”

Discarding and final destination of açaí in the Oriental Amazon - Brazil

“…The açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) is native to the floodplains of central and South America and is cultivated in Brazil for its berries, which are considered to be a 'superfood ' (SATO et al, 2020). Açaí palms can be found as simple component of native forests, or as natural massifs, in the entire Amazon estuary region (AGUIAR et al, 2018;.…”

“…Despite several studies on the excellent physical, chemical and biological properties of açaí products (MAGALHÃES, et al, 2020), there are very few studies that care or analyze how the disposal of açaí stone occurs as well as what are the final destinations (SATO et al, 2020).…”

“…The waste açaí fiber and seeds obtained after fruit processing pose a challenge since they remain unutilized despite being an abundant waste by-product of açaí processing. This leads to a build-up of waste, irregular dumping and environmental management challenges (SATO et al, 2020). Therefore, studies have addressed the reuse of açaí lumps in activities such as fertilizer production, oxidant extraction, enzymatic substrates and, energy generation (LIMA et al, 2016;RODRIGUES et al, 2017).…”