Optimization of fulvic acids production from oil palm empty fruit bunches using microwave extractor

This study evaluates the potential of Fulvic Acid (FA), derived from oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB), as an immunomodulatory agent through in vitro analysis. Fulvic Acid, a component of humic substances, is known for its wide-ranging applications in agriculture, biotechnology, and medicine. With an increasing need for sustainable natural therapies, FA has shown promise in treating degenerative diseases by modulating immune responses. The research focused on assessing the immunomodulatory effects of FA by analysing its impact on cytokine production. In vitro studies used the MTT assay to determine cytotoxicity and ELISA tests to measure cytokines associated with natural immunity (TNF-alpha and Interferon-gamma) and adaptive immunity (IL-2 and TGF-beta). Comparative evaluations were performed using FA samples from Shilajit and a fertiliser product. Results demonstrated that FA derived from OPEFB significantly enhanced cytokine production, suggesting its potential as an immunomodulatory agent. These findings indicate that FA from OPEFB could be a promising candidate for developing treatments for degenerative diseases. Further studies are recommended to explore its therapeutic potential and commercial application in the health sector.

Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) such as the oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB) has emerged as one of the sustainable alternative renewable bio-resources in retrieving the valuable bioproducts such as lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. The natural recalcitrance of LCB by the disarray of lignin is overcome through the combinative application of organosolv pre-treatment followed by microwave irradiation, which helps to break down LCB into its respective components. This physicochemical treatment process was conducted to evaluate the effect of ethanol solvent, microwave power and duration against delignification and the total sugars yield. The highest delignification rate was obtained with lowest amount of lignin left in OPEFB sample of 0.57% for samples pre-treated with ethanol, subjected to reaction time of 90 minutes and microwave power of 520 W. Microwave power functions to increase the temperature of the ethanol organic solvent utilized, which in turn helps break the protective lignin layer of OPEFB. On the other hand, the data on surface morphology supports this data finding, where OPEFB samples pre-treated with 55 vol% of solvent subjected to similar microwave duration and power is observed to have higher opened and deepened surface structure, in which higher thermal degradation lead to more lignin being removed in order to expose and extract the total sugars. Therefore, it can be concluded that ethanol pre-treatment in combination with microwave irradiation can serve as a novel integrated method to optimize the delignification process from OPEFB.

The factors responsible for the low solubility percentage of oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) cellulose pulp compared to kenaf when dissolved in aqueous NaOH/urea solvent system was reported. Physical and chemical properties of both cellulose pulp were studied and compared in terms of the lignin content, viscosity average molecular weight (Mη), crystallinity index (CrI), cellulose pulp structure and their zero span tensile strength. The structure of both OPEFB and kenaf cellulose pulp were characterized using high powered microscope and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) assisted by ImageJ® software. The results show that the most significant factor that affected the OPEFB and kenaf cellulose dissolution in NaOH/-urea solvent was the Mη with OPEFB having a higher Mη of 1.68×105 compared to 5.53 × 104 for kenaf. Overall, kenaf cellulose appeared to be produced in higher quantities presumably due to its lower molecular weight with superior tensile strength and permeability in comparison to OPEFB.

Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB), such as the oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB), has emerged as one of the sustainable alternative renewable bioresources in retrieving valuable bioproducts, such as lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. The natural recalcitrance of LCB by the disarray of lignin is overcome through the combinative application of organosolv pre-treatment followed by microwave irradiation, which helps to break down LCB into its respective components. This physicochemical treatment process was conducted to evaluate the effect of ethanol solvent, microwave power, and microwave duration against delignification and the total sugar yield. The highest delignification rate was achieved, and the optimum level of total sugars was obtained, with the smallest amount of lignin left in the OPEFB sample at 0.57% and total sugars at 87.8 mg/L, respectively. This was observed for the OPEFB samples pre-treated with 55 vol% of ethanol subjected to a reaction time of 90 min and a microwave power of 520 W. Microwave irradiation functions were used to increase the temperature of the ethanol organic solvent, which in turn helped to break the protective lignin layer of OPEFB. On the other hand, the surface morphology supported this finding, where OPEFB samples pre-treated with 55 vol% of solvent subjected to similar microwave duration and power were observed to have higher opened and deepened surface structures. Consequently, higher thermal degradation can lead to more lignin being removed in order to expose and extract the total sugars. Therefore, it can be concluded that organosolv pre-treatment in combination with microwave irradiation can serve as a novel integrated method to optimize the total sugar yield synthesized from OPEFB.

The decline in fossil fuel sources has prompted research into finding renewable fuels. One of environmentally friendly energy sources with high efficiency is by producing liquid oil from palm oil empty fruit bunch (EFB) and coal. Pre-treatment of empty fruit bunches using NaOH and various concentrations of H2O2, various ratios of EFB/coal, the ratio of CaO catalyst, chemical and physical characteristics were studied to produce the better liquid oil yield. The H2O2 concentrations are 0%, 1%, 2%, and 3%. The ratios of EFB/coal (R) are 0/100, 25/75, 50/50, and 75/25. The ratios of catalyst CaO/raw material are 0%, 3%, 6%, and 9%. It ran at 400 °C with 100 mL/min nitrogen gas flowing during one hour. The results showed that adding sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide in the EFB pre-treatment increased the liquid oil yield. With an increase in the EFB/coal ratio, the liquid oil yield increased. Co-pyrolysis treated EFB and Coal with a ratio of 75:25 produced 32% liquid oil yield, but the liquid oil yield decreased to 19% with the addition of 9% CaO catalyst. However, the addition of CaO catalyst reduces the acidity and increases the calorific value of the liquid oil.

Indonesia is one of the largest palm oil-producing countries in the world. The results of palm oil processing produce a lot of waste, such as oil palm empty fruit bunches (OPEFB). The utilization of OPEFB in Indonesia is minimal, so it needs further development. OPEFB has a very high α-cellulose content, so that it can be used as raw material for manufacturing cellulose acetate. Making cellulose acetate from OPEFB consists of three main steps: delignification, bleaching, and acetylation. This study aims to compare the effects of the concentration of NaClO2 or H2O2 in the bleaching process on the physical properties of cellulose acetate from OPEFB. In the delignification process, 100 mesh-sized OPEFB powder is reacted with 5% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at 100oC for 2 hours. The residue from deliglinfication was washed using distilled water until pH 7, filtered using filter paper, and dried using an oven at 50oC. The next step is the bleaching process using NaClO2 or H2O2 with concentration variations (1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5%). The bleaching process was carried out at 90oC for 1.5 hours. After filtration, the bleached residue was washed using distilled water until pH 7, filtered using filter paper, and dried using an oven at 50oC. After the bleaching process, α-cellulose powder was produced. The next step is acetylation, containing three main steps. The first step is the reaction between α-cellulose powder with acetic acid (CH3COOH) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) at 40oC for 1.5 hours to perform activation. The second step is the addition of anhydrous cellulose in a ratio of 1:10 and mixed at 40oC for 1.5 hours. The third step is the addition of distilled water, acetic acid, and sodium acetate (CH3COONa) at 40oC for 5 minutes. Then, followed by filtration, the residue was washed using distilled water and methanol until pH 7 and dried at 50oC. The best result is using NaClO2 as a bleaching agent with a concentration of 2%, resulting in cellulose acetate yielding 98.85%, density of 1.954 g/mL, and L value of 91.897 for colorimetric test results. The density and L-value were close to commercial cellulose acetate (Sigma Aldrich). From the results of FTIR analysis, it can be concluded that the acetylation of α-cellulose into cellulose acetate has been successful, as evidenced by the formation of carbonyl groups (C=O).

The fate of organic micro-pollutants in soil largely depends on their interactions with soil organic matter (SOM). Indeed, the intensity and nature of such interactions are major factors in the control of micro-pollutant bioavailability, and hence degradation and micro-pollutant mobility in the environment [Khan and Hamilton, 1980 ; Calderbank, 1989 ; Dec et al., 1990, 1997 ; Barriuso and Koshinen, 1996]. Residual micro-pollutants, i.e. the remaining micro-pollutants and their various transformation products (metabolites), occur in soil both in the water phase and associated with the solid phase. A part of these associated molecules, termed bound residues (BRs), cannot be released via extraction with water or organic solvents like methanol. SOM plays a major role in BR formation [e.g. Loiseau et al., 2000] and different types of interaction (like covalent bonds and trapping in organo-mineral aggregates) can be implied [Hsu and Bartha, 1976 ; Schiavon et al., 1977 ; Bollag et al., 1992 ; Dec and Bollag, 1997 ; Steinberg et al., 1987; Providenti et al., 1993]. The present study is concerned with the fate of atrazine in three silty loamy soils from the Paris Basin. Atrazine is largely used (ca. 5000 T/year in France) as herbicide for maize cropping and may cause important pollution problems through transfer to water resources.

Waste-derived biomaterial is one of the approaches to support environmental sustainability by practising waste recycling and reducing the use of natural, raw materials. In Malaysia, oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is one of the underutilized lignocellulosic waste which is commonly disposed due to its large production from palm oil extraction milling. Its high cellulose content makes it suitable for waste-derived cellulose synthesis whereby it can be extracted via alkaline hydrogen peroxide mechanism. The OPEFB waste was treated with 5% (v/v) hydrogen peroxide at pH 11.5, 70 ℃ for 90 min. The colour change of the sample was observed and its chemical structure was analyzed using FTIR. The result revealed that the colour of the sample changed from brown to white after the chemical treatment. The FTIR analysis showed that there was bound lignin and hemicellulose on the sample based on the weak intensity of the compounds indicative peak, suggesting that the cellulose obtained via this method was not 100% pure. This research work suggests more study on the percentage of the residual lignin and hemicellulose and its effect on the cytotoxicity of the cellulose as a biomaterial for biomedical application.KeywordsCellulose isolationOil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB)Hydrogen peroxide

In previous investigation of vermicomposting process of palm oil empty fruit bunches, five cellulase-producing microorganisms had been isolated. An isolated VTM1 identified as Aspergillus sp. as a cellulase producing mold, and proven produced extracellular cellulase in solid state fermentation of palm oil empty fruit bunches. The obtaining crude cellulase was purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 chromatography, and finally purified on ion exchange chromatography on DEAE Cellulofine A-500. The yield and purification fold were 12.89% and 107.50, respectively. The purified cellulase was easily released glucose when 5% CMC applied as substrate, as shown by TLC analysis. The purified cellulase had an optimal pH and temperature at 4.0 and 45°C, and was stable at pH 3-7 and 30-50°C, respectively.

Fulvic acid (FA) is a complex organic mixture composed of small molecules. The structure and composition of FA vary greatly because of the different raw materials used for preparing FA. In this work, FA was extracted from shallow low-rank lignite by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in a microwave field, and the functional groups of FA were characterized. The optimal extraction process was determined, with the H2O2 concentration being the key factor affecting the yield of FA. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that FA was mainly composed of low molecular weight and readily pyrolyzed compounds. As shown by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, in the process of FA extraction by H2O2 oxidation of lignite, the content of −COOH increased, long-chain aliphatic compounds decreased, stretching vibrations of aromatic ring skeletons disappeared, and aromatic ring substitution became mainly tri- or disubstitution. Fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that FA had a low degree of aromaticity. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy qualitatively and quantitatively revealed that the main modes of carbon–oxygen bonding in FA were C–O–, COO–, and C=O. Thus, this study not only lays a foundation for studying the composition and structure of coal-based FA but also opens a new avenue for a clean and efficient utilization of lignite.

Mesuji is one of the districts that has the largest oil palm plantations in Lampung province. A large amount of Palm Oil Empty Fruit Bunch (TKKS) waste is one of the impacts caused by the extent of the plantation. Oil palm bunches are a fruit stalk and the place where the oil palm fruit attaches. Palm Oil Empty Fruit Bunch (TKKS) is the main waste which is 23% of the palm oil processing. The purpose of this study was to determine the phosphate content of OPEFB organic fertilizer combined with goat feces, determine the comparison that has a good value of phosphate content, and determine the feasibility of the poster making of organic fertilizer for empty palm oil palm bunches (OPEFB) which added goat feces. This type of research is an experiment, using a completely randomized design (CRD). This study used three treatments and one control namely the ratio of Palm Oil Empty Fruit Bunch (TKKS) and goat feces was 1: 0 as a control treatment, 7: 3 as the first treatment, 1: 1 as the second treatment, and 3: 7 as the third treatment. Based on the test results pospat levels obtained an average of each control sample until treatments 1, 2, and 3 are as follows: 0.327%, 0.511%, 0.923%, and 1.330%. The results of one-way ANAVA test analysis found that there was a significant effect of giving goat feces to the OPEFB fertilizer produced and based on ANAVA test results (LSD test) found that the best effect of goat feces was in the third treatment, namely on the comparison of OPEFB feces and goat feces by 3: 7. The results of poster study source validation on the design expert got a value of 86 and the material expert got a value of 95. This study concluded that goat feces affected phosphate levels in OPEFB organic fertilizer, the ratio that had the highest phosphate value was 300 grams of OPEFB and 700 grams of Goat Phases (treatment to goat three), and a poster about the effect of goat feces on phosphate levels in organic fertilizer of oil palm empty fruit bunches is suitable as a learning resource.

The oil and raffia palm species are indigenous to West and Central Africa, and their exploitation both at industrial and artisanal scale generate important quantities of renewable fibrous biomass that can be converted to high and low value bio-based products. Fibre samples were prepared from three raffia palm species drawn from three locations and Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) from an industrial palm oil mill, all in the South West Region of Cameroon. The samples were tested for chemical composition using wet chemical methods and an elemental analyzer. The functional groups were determined by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FT-IR) spectroscopy while morphological analysis and crystallinity were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction respectively. The results obtained show that extractives-free raffia palm fibres are similar to OPEFB with respect to lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose contents, morphology, occurrence of silica bodies on the surface of fibres and internal porosity. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) indicated that the diameter of raffia fibre were larger than those of OPEFB stalk and spikelet fibres. The content of extractives determined by gravimetric method showed significantly lower values for raffia biomass compared to EFB fibres. The response of the fibres to hypochlorite treatment as revealed by FT-IR and morphological studies was very similar. The raffia fibres reflected significantly lower ash content and the powder X-ray studies showed slight differences in crystallinity index between raffia and OPEFB. The variability in key characteristics of biomass from the different species of palm are within the limits of the variability shown by biomass from the same species of plants. This leads to the conclusion that, the two types of palm which are both indigenous to the West and Central Africa can serve as source of blended renewable biomass. Promotion of cultivation and conservation of existing raffia plantations presents as a strategy for a more sustainable supply of biomass feedstock for bio-based products. Key words: Raffia palm, oil palm, fiber sample, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).

One of the most underutilized biomasses wastes in Malaysia is oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB). Lignin presented in EFB was found to contain the highest energy content compared to hemicellulose and cellulose. Therefore, EFB can be the sources of lignin extraction to generate profit for the oil palm industry. Deep eutectic solvent (DES) has emerged as a new green solvent in biomass fractionation field as it has impressive delignification efficiency and low toxicity. Many researchers had delignified biomass using DES with conventional oil bath heating. The conventional method for delignification is energy-intensive and involving long pre-treatment time. Hence, this study aims to achieve effective extraction yield while reducing energy usage to extract lignin from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) using DES with aid of microwave heating (MAE) and ultrasonic irradiation (UAE). The feasible extraction scheme was used to investigate parameters include water content in DES, irradiation duration, and heating method power. The crucial parameters affecting MAE pre-treatment was found to be microwave power and duration. As for UAE pre-treatment, ultrasonic amplitude and water content in DES plays a significant role on delignifying EFB using DES. In addition, the models developed for both pre-treatments are identified to be significant and thus the optimized pre-treatment conditions can be obtained. This finding is anticipated to generate an effective DES pre-treatment with integration of assistive heating techniques. From regression analysis, the optimized condition for UAE pre-treatment is at 75% amplitude for 8 min 38s, resulting in an 13.20% of lignin removal from EFB. As for the MAE pre-treatment, 56.30% of delignification efficiency was achieved using optimized condition at 300 W for 2 min 42 sec.

Environmental context. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and organic peroxides (ROOH) are ubiquitously present in natural waters and primarily essential for several redox reactions. This study examines the effects of various dissolved organic substances on the formation of H2O2 and ROOH and their relationship with different water quality parameters in two Japanese rivers. This study suggests that fulvic acid is primarily responsible for production of H2O2 and ROOH in river waters. Abstract. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and organic peroxides (ROOH) were examined in water samples collected from the upstream and downstream sites of two Japanese rivers (the Kurose and the Ohta). H2O2 concentrations during monthly measurements varied between 6 and 213 nM in the Kurose River and 33 and 188 nM in the Ohta River. ROOH varied between 0 and 73 nM in the Kurose River and 1 and 80 nM in the Ohta. Concentrations of peroxides were higher during the summer months than in winter. H2O2 concentrations correlated well with the measured content of dissolved organic carbon and/or the fluorescence intensity of the fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) in the water from these rivers, which suggested that the dissolved organic matter and FDOM are the major sources of H2O2. Further characterisation of FDOM components by excitation emission matrix spectroscopy and parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis indicated that fulvic acid is a dominant source of H2O2 in river waters, which accounted for 23–70% of H2O2 production in the Ohta River, 25–61% in the upstream and 28–63% in the downstream waters of the Kurose River, respectively. A fluorescent whitening agent and its photoproduct (4-biphenyl carboxaldehyde) together contributed 3–7% of H2O2 production in the downstream waters of the Kurose River. Tryptophan-like substances were a minor source of H2O2 (<1%) in both rivers. An increase in the H2O2 concentration was observed in the diurnal samples collected at noon compared with the samples collected during the period before sunrise and after sunset, thus indicating that H2O2 was produced photochemically. This study demonstrates that H2O2 and ROOH are produced mainly from the photodegradation of FDOMs, such as fulvic acid.

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibre, which is the byproduct of fruits being stripped from the fresh fruit bunch in palm oil mill, was evaluated in terms of the production of xylooligosaccharides (XOs) and the solid residue was treated for cellulose recovery. Chemoenzymatic hydrolysis that consists of chemical fractionation of OPEFB fibre to isolate xylan with further enzymatic hydrolysis to XOs in a packed bed column reactor (PBCR) was performed. An immobilised xylanase of Thermomyces lanuginosus at the concentration of 8.25 fungal xylanase unit wheat/mililitre (FXUW mL−1) was employed on a PBCR to hydrolyse the xylan at 55 °C and pH 5.5. The yields of XOs are composed of xylopentaose, xylotetraose, xylotriose and xylobiose, successfully produced from the OPEFB-xylan, shown in HPLC analysis with the total production of 8,776 mg/L and the immobilised xylanase can be recycled up to six enzymatic treatment cycles. The solid residue generated from the xylan extraction was further treated with mild concentration of bleaching agents of 20% (v/v) formic acid and 5% (v/v) hydrogen peroxide at 85 °C. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed that the products obtained have the standard cellulose structure and functional group. Further analyses on the properties of the extracted cellulose in terms of crystallinity, thermal stability and morphology were conducted. The integrated process to produce XOs from OPEFB and recover cellulose from its byproduct is sustainable to extract fine chemicals from OPEFB.