Processing of after-alcohol vinasse for environmentally friendly environment

Abstract

One of the industrial sources of intoxication polluting the environment is vinasse – a secondary raw material formed during the alcoholic processing of grain in 12 times the volume of alcohol produced. Due to the low content of dry substances (up to 8%), low shelf life (up to 2 days), seasonality of consumption in livestock, the transportation, especially the liquid phase of vinasse, is not economically profitable, which causes the need for its disposal or processing and determines the relevance of this study. Based on the chemical composition of vinasse, the purpose of the study is to study the possibility of obtaining pectins from it as biologically active compounds, which would reduce the volume of vinasse released into the environment thus ensuring its protection. The purpose of the study was fulfilled by solving the following tasks: development of a method of pectins release from vinasse, assessment of their physicochemical and biological properties, determination of chemical and microbiological safety of vinasse wastes. The study included technological, physicochemical, chemical, biological methods. Vinasse fractions were obtained according to the developed method of vinasse processing based on vortex extraction, concentration of extractions, alcohol release of the end products, pectins from liquid (yield 3.1%) and solid (yield 2.9%), which ensured a 20-fold reduction in the volume of vinasse. The characteristics of pectins were established: authenticity, loss in mass during drying, pH, molar mass, content of pectic acid, functional groups, binding properties. The safety and gastroprotective activity of pectins was established. Mother solutions after the release of pectins were estimated to be less than 3.9 times the chemical consumption of oxygen and satisfactory microbiological purity, which made it possible to evaluate them as safe industrial waste.