Isolation and Characterization of Cellulose from Pomegranate (Punica granatum) Peel

ABSTRACT

A commonly wasted agricultural waste, pomegranate peel has attracted attention as a useful biomaterial with a wide range of potential uses. Fruit and vegetable wastes create environmental difficulties, as well as a loss of valuable biomass and a financial cost to enterprises, due to its high biodegradability. This study focuses on the extraction and characterization of cellulose from both the outer and inner layers of pomegranate peel. The cellulose extraction process involves a multi-step approach, encompassing delignification and mercerization. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed characteristic peaks associated with cellulose, confirming its presence in the extracted material. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) depicted the morphological transformation of cellulose as non-cellulosic components were removed during the extraction process. Particle size analysis demonstrated that alkaline treatment reduced the cellulose particle size. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated a significant increase in cellulose crystallinity due to the elimination of hemicellulose and lignin following the extraction process. The chemical composition analysis revealed that treated pomegranate peels contained higher cellulose content compared to their untreated counterparts. This study offers insightful information about the possible uses of pomegranate peel cellulose and its adaptability to a different application.

摘要

石榴皮是一种常见的农业废弃物，作为一种有用的生物材料，具有广泛的潜在用途，引起了人们的关注. 水果和蔬菜废弃物由于其高生物降解性，造成了环境困难，也造成了宝贵生物量的损失和企业的财务成本. 本研究的重点是从石榴皮的外层和内层提取纤维素并对其进行表征. 纤维素提取过程涉及多步骤方法，包括脱木素和丝光. 傅立叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）揭示了与纤维素相关的特征峰，证实了纤维素在提取材料中的存在. 场发射扫描电子显微镜（FESEM）描述了在提取过程中去除非纤维素成分时纤维素的形态转变. 粒度分析表明，碱处理降低了纤维素的粒度. X射线衍射（XRD）分析表明，由于提取过程后半纤维素和木质素的消除，纤维素结晶度显著增加. 化学成分分析显示，与未处理的石榴皮相比，处理过的石榴皮含有更高的纤维素含量. 这项研究提供了关于石榴皮纤维素的可能用途及其对不同应用的适应性的深入信息.

KEYWORDS:

• Pomegranate peel
• cellulose
• extraction
• crystallinity
• isolation

关键词:

• 石榴皮
• 纤维素
• 萃取
• 结晶度
• 隔离

Acknowledgments

Authors would like to acknowledge Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) for providing research facilities. This work was financially supported by Universiti Putra Malaysia through Geran Putra Inisiatif (No. GPI/2022/9720100).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author’s contribution

Vasi Uddin Siddiqui: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Formal analysis, Validation, Writing – Reviewing and Editing. Tareq Mohammed Almehjani: Writing – Original draft preparation, Investigation. S.M. Sapuan: Supervision, Conceptualization, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Tarique Jamal: Formal analysis, Writing – Reviewing and Editing. R.A. Ilyas: Funding acquisition, Writing – Reviewing and Editing. Sayed M Eldin: Funding acquisition, Writing – Reviewing and Editing. Abir Khan: Writing – Reviewing and Editing. Yusuf Jameel: Writing – Reviewing and Editing.

Data availability statement

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by Universiti Putra Malaysia through Geran Putra Inisiatif [No. GPI/2022/9720100].