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It has the ability to absorb heavy metals and organic compounds

Polluted waters can be cleaned using banana peels

Research carried out by Cena / USP (Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture), identified the banana peels potential in the treatment of water contaminated with atrazine and ametrine, herbicides used mainly in sugar cane and corn plantations. Cena reported that, after treatment, the samples collected from the Piracicaba and Capivari rivers in the water treatment station of Piracicaba in the State of Sao Paulo, were free of these components - demonstrating the effectiveness of this system compared to other more common treatments such as the use of coal. To be used as a decontamination agent the skin of the fruit is harvested and dried in an oven at 60C. Then it is crushed and sieved to form a kind of powder to which a fixed volume of water is added. Sergio Monteiro, one of the authors of the study noted that this methodology could be used mainly in the treatment of public water supplies in regions with intensive agricultural practices. "We still need to do studies for it to be applied on a large-scale, but we believe that this process is the best alternative," he said. According to what was reported, the traditional water treatment methods aren't effective enough at removing pesticide residues in order to meet the necessary potability standards. The banana peel was thus presented as a cheaper and more competent technique compared to other procedures. It should be noted that the banana peel represents between 30-40% of the total weight of the fruit. The skin is used in the production of fertilizers, animal feeds, as well as for production of proteins, ethanol, methane, pectin and enzymes. Its main components are cellulose, chlorophyll, hemicellulose and pectin, among other low molecular weight compounds. The presence of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups in the pectin composition give the fruits skin the ability to absorb heavy metals and organic compounds. Source: Portalfruticola

Publication date: 4/24/2013

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4/24/2013