Abstract
The possibility of orange pulp utilization for nanoporous carbons production was investigated. Moreover, processing the obtained materials as limonene oxidation catalysts was studied as well. Limonene was separated from orange pulp obtained from fragmented orange peels—the waste from industrial fruits processing—by means of simple distillation. After the separation of limonene from the biomass, the dried orange pulp was converted to three types of nanoporous carbon catalysts: without activating agent, with NaOH, and with KOH. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, AFM, and sorption of N2 methods. The activities of the obtained catalysts were tested in the oxidation of limonene to perillyl alcohol (the main product), carveol, carvone, and 1,2-epoxylimonene and its diol. In the oxidation processes, hydrogen peroxide was used as the oxidizing agent. This work has shown for the first time that nanoporous carbons obtained from orange pulp waste, after separation of limonene, are active catalysts for limonene oxidation to industrially important value-added products.
Highlights
The orange juice industry is a source of 8–20 million tons of waste material globally [1]—mainly in the form of fragmented orange peels and the membranes from inside the fruit
Our work shows the possibility of utilizing the orange peels waste from industrial fruits processing, both as a source of important oxygenated limonene derivatives, and after separation of limonene, as a source of nanoporous carbon catalysts for the oxidation of limonene to these products
We concluded that the orange pulp contains considerable amounts of Ca
Summary
The orange juice industry is a source of 8–20 million tons of waste material globally [1]—mainly in the form of fragmented orange peels and the membranes from inside the fruit These remains represent an environmental problem due to microbial spoilage [2, 3]. We can obtain such compounds with very high selectivity depending on the process conditions and the catalyst that is used. These compounds have many applications as components of fragrant compositions for perfumery and cosmetics, as food additives, and as components of polymers. The second oxygenated derivative of limonene, is used as an anticancer agent for the therapy of pancreatic and breast cancers [9, 10], and shows anti-yeast and antifungal activity
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