Analysis of metals and persistent organic pollutants in ethyl acetate extract of Peltophorum africanum

143-149This study was aimed to analyze the metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulated in the ethyl acetate extract (EAE) of Peltophorum africanum a medicinal plant commonly used in South Africa. Metal analysis revealed the presence of aluminum (Al) [17.2%], chlorine (Cl) [2.7%], sodium (Na) [5.7%], nitrogen (N) [1.3%], sulphur (S) [3.0 ], carbon (C) [6.5%], oxygen (O) [6.5%], titanium (Ti) [6.1%], silicon (Si) [17.2%], gold (Au) [15.9%], copper (Cu) [2.9%], zinc (Zn) [3.0%], and potassium (K) [4.3%]. The functional group of phosphorus-oxy (P=O); halogenated compounds (C-F, C-Cl), thiols and thio-substituted (C-S/C-I, S-S/ClCN) organic pollutants with the frequency wavelength range of 420.23–1287.62 cm-1 were identified. Colchicine, n-hexadecanoic acid, lanosta, nitroanthraquinone, stigmasterol, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, and ferrocene were also detected with percentage quantity of 0.4, 6.4, 2.9, 0.2, 1.6, 0.6 and 0.1% respectively. Some of the metals and POPs identified from the EAE of Peltophorum africanum in this study have been linked or associated with various human health risks

Analysis of metals and persistent organic pollutants in ethyl acetate extract of Peltophorum africanum

This study was aimed to analyze the metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulated in the ethyl acetate extract (EAE) of Peltophorum africanum a medicinal plant commonly used in South Africa. Metal analysis revealed the presence of aluminum (Al) [17.2%], chlorine (Cl) [2.7%], sodium (Na) [5.7%], nitrogen (N) [1.3%], sulphur (S) [3.0 ], carbon (C) [6.5%], oxygen (O) [6.5%], titanium (Ti) [6.1%], silicon (Si) [17.2%], gold (Au) [15.9%], copper (Cu) [2.9%], zinc (Zn) [3.0%], and potassium (K) [4.3%]. The functional group of phosphorus-oxy (P=O); halogenated compounds (C-F, C-Cl), thiols and thio-substituted (C-S/C-I, S-S/ClCN) organic pollutants with the frequency wavelength range of 420.23–1287.62 cm-1 were identified. Colchicine, n-hexadecanoic acid, lanosta, nitroanthraquinone, stigmasterol, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, and ferrocene were also detected with percentage quantity of 0.4, 6.4, 2.9, 0.2, 1.6, 0.6 and 0.1% respectively. Some of the metals and POPs identified from the EAE of Peltophorum africanum in this study have been linked or associated with various human health risks

Leaching of Cyanogens and Mycotoxins from Cultivated Cassava into Agricultural Soil: Effects on Groundwater Quality

Cyanogens and mycotoxins are vital in protecting flora against predation. Nevertheless, their increased concentrations and by-products in agricultural soil could result in produce contamination and decreased crop yield and soil productivity. When exposed to unsuitable weather conditions, agricultural produce such as cassava is susceptible to bacterial and fungal attack, culminating in spoilage, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, and contributing to cyanogen and mycotoxins loading of the arable land. The movement of cyanogen including mycotoxins in such soil can result in sub-surface and/or groundwater contamination, thus deteriorating the soil’s environmental health and negatively affecting wildlife and humans. Persistent cyanogen and mycotoxins loading into agricultural soil changes its physico-chemical characteristics and biotic parameters. These contaminants and their biodegradation by-products can be dispersed from soil’s surface and sub-surface to groundwater systems by permeation and percolation through the upper soil layer into underground water reservoirs, which can result in their exposure to humans and wildlife. Thus, an assessment and monitoring of cyanogen and mycotoxins loading impacts on arable land and groundwater in communities with minimal resources should be done. Overall, these toxicants impacts on agricultural soil’s biotic community, affect soil’s aggregates, functionality and lead to the soil’s low productivity, cross-contamination of fresh agricultural produce

Enhanced Pretreatment of Winery Solid Waste for High Reducing Sugar Yield

Conference ProceedingAn increasing quantity of Winery solid waste (WSW) generated annually is of environmental concern. This study was aimed to evaluate the pretreatment efficacy of winery waste for biogas production. Samples comprising mainly of grape pomace were collected from a winery in Stellenbosch, South Africa and subsequently pretreated using chemical (Alkaline hydrogen peroxide, AHP) and biological (cellulases and ligninases) methods. To assess their activity, ligninases and cellulases were further used to hydrolyze the pretreated samples both singly and in combination (cocktail). The results showed an increase in reducible sugar (23%) with the combined enzymes (2.06 mg/mL) compared to the individual enzymes (1.68 mg/mL). The AHP-pretreated biomass also gave higher (1.900 mg/mL) yields than non-AHP pretreated (0.102 mg/mL), indicating a significant effect on delignification and de-crystallinization of cellulose in the biomass. This optimization process had significant impact on the valorization of winery solid waste.This work is based on the research supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa for the Thuthuka Unique Grant No. 99393

Assessment of Pathogen Reduction Potential of an Anaerobic Digester containing Winery Wastewater

Conference ProceedingIn this study, assessment of the pathogenic bacteria reduction capacity of an anaerobic digester (AD) containing winery wastewater (WWW) was carried out. Samples were collected from a winery drainage system (influent) and a bioreactor after digestion (effluent) at the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), Stellenbosch, South Africa. Qualitative analysis was by means of pH, optical density (OD) and most probable number (MPN) techniques. The isolates were identified using biochemical and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. Results showed an increase in pH from 6.71 to 6.97 with MPN index per 100 mL reduction of presumptive coliforms from >1,100 to 313.3 after digestion at 95% confidence interval (CI), respectively. A 3 log removal efficiency (99.9%) of Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Azomonas spp. and Aeromonas hydrophila was achieved after 30 days retention time in the bio-digester. The significant reduction of these surrogate pathogens during the process of biogas production is of importance to mitigate against environmental health concerns.This work is based on the research supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa for the Thuthuka Unique Grant No. 99393

Performance of microbial community dominated by Bacillus spp. in acid mine drainage remediation systems: A focus on the high removal efficiency of SO42-, Al3+, Cd2+, Cu2+, Mn2+, Pb2+, and Sr2+

A consortium of microbial community was used for the treatment of acid mine drainage wastewater laden with sulphate and heavy metals. The wastewater was treated in an anaerobic continuously stirred tank bioreactor. The microbial community activity increased the pH from 5.6 to 6.5, and improved sulphate removal up to 85% from an initial sulphate concentration of 8080 mg SO42−/L in a continuous mode, following enrichment for 21 d. The maximum heavy metal removal percentage was observed for Cd (98%), Al (97%), Mn (95%), Pb (94%), Sr (94%) and Cu (91%). The microbial community showed synergy between strictly anaerobic and facultative Firmicutes sp., which were responsible for the bioreactor performance. The biochemical reaction indicated the microbial community has a wider range of substrates dominated by metallo-aminopeptidases

Process performance determination data in thiocyanate biodegradation systems : use of sulphate production

This data article presents the utilization of sulphates as an indirect technique for the assessment of microbial growth, activity and SCN- biodegradation efficiency since the TDO were observed to be unable to utilise the produced sulphates as a source of sulphur (Mekuto e al., 2017) [1] The TDO demonstrated complete SCN- biodegradation while also utilizing the produced ammonium. The production of SO42- from SCN- biodegradation had a good correlation in comparison to the traditional methods of assessing microbial growth and activity i.e. direct cell counts (DCC), heterotrophic counts (CFU) and fluorescein production from fluorescein diacetate (FDA). The concentration of the produced SO42- demonstrated a similar logarithmic trend with the FDA, DCC and CFU techniques, thus confirming that the production of SO42- from SCN- biodegradation systems can be utilised as an indirect technique for the assessment of microbial growth, activity and SCN- biodegradation performance