“A NOVEL APPROACH IN UTILIZATION OF

FLOWER WASTE FROM CHICKBALLAPUR

MARKET TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT OF VALUE
ADDED PRODUCTS”
PROJECT REFERENCE NO. : 37S1018

COLLEGE : SIR M VISVESVARAYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,

BANGALORE
BRANCH : BIOTECHNOLOGY
GUIDES : PRIYA NARAYAN AND SRINIVAS V BANDLAMORI
STUDENTS : RIZWAN PASHA
ASHWINI MOHANDAS
REVATHI B R

Keywords: Marigold flower waste, Poultry/cattle feed, fertilizer, lutein

Introduction:
The objective of this study is to develop value added products from flower waste
obtained from Chickballapur market. Our preliminary research revealed that on an average,
750 tonnes of flowers are sold in the Chickballapur market on a monthly basis. These figures
double during festive season giving an estimate of 10,000 tonnes per annum. Around 5-10%
of the flower waste is generated due to fluctuations in the demand or loss of quality of the
flowers due to lack of preservation facilities. The current disposal practices are that they
burnt openly or thrown in the water bodies.

Marigold flower waste was used for this study as these flowers form major portion of
the bulk flower waste. They are rich in phytochemicals like lutein which has a lot of
beneficiary effects especially antioxidant properties. These properties are good for the
formulation of feed and cosmetics. Lutein is the major pigment that is present in varying
concentration from 4.0 mg/g in greenish yellow flowers to 800 mg/g in orange brown
marigold flowers. Reported potential benefits of marigold include its role in cancer
prevention and enhanced immune function, inhibition of the auto-oxidation of cellular lipids,
protection against oxidant induced cell damage and prevention of age related macular

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degeneration. Use of marigold in diet of pullet has no detrimental effect on internal and
external quality of egg as well as egg production characteristics. So, marigold can be used
more efficiently for egg yolk pigmentation. Generally, lutein is extracted from marigold
flowers by solvent extraction of dried flowers followed by the removal of solvent to obtain
oleoresin; this can be used to formulate different value added products.

Objectives:
 To develop a novel approach towards flower waste management

 To formulate the flower extract into a Liquid hand-wash (soap)

 Formulation of the waste flowers into Poultry/cattle feed

 To develop cosmetic cream from the flower extract.

 To formulate the waste flowers into Fertilizer

Methodology
Materials: organic solvents (hexane, methane, ethanol), sodium-meta-bisulphate, silage
bacteria, petroleum jelly, menthol, fragrance, DPPH, distilled water, vanillin, sulphuric acid,
tween, glycerol, sodium lauryl sulphate(SLS), fragrance, mineral Oil, 1%CaCl2, 1% MgCl2

Methodology:

(a) Initial characterization:

The flower waste was collected from chickballapur market, depending on the nature
of waste i.e relatively fresh, dry or contaminated (bacterial/fungal) different methods were
carried out to get different products. In case of relatively fresh flowers, initial processing was
carried out by drying, grinding, sieving and storing in a cool place away from moisture. The
extracts were prepared using different solvents like hexane, water, methanol and ethanol.
Different extracts were checked for Alkaloids by adding Mayer’s reagent, Tannins by adding
Ferric chloride, Saponins by adding Sulphuric acid-Vanillin, Flavonoids by adding sodium
chloride and resins by adding water to the extract.

(b) Formulation of products:

1. Liquid Hand-wash: The flowers were boiled in water, the extract contains saponins,
which was saponified using Alcoholic KOH and this was taken as active ingredient in the

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liquid hand-wash. The liquid hand-wash was formulated by taking active ingredient, sodium
lauryl sulphate (surfactant), Tween 80 (emulsifier) and Glycerol (moisturizer) in different
proportions, fragrance was added and the volume was made upto desired concentration by
diluting with water. All the compounds and their concentration used in the formulation of the
liquid hand-wash are in accordance with US and Indian Pharmacopeia. The liquid hand-wash
formulated was checked for emulsifying property, alkalinity and its behavior in hard water.

2. Poultry/cattle feed: The separated marigold flower paste after water extraction was used
for the formulation of feed. Pesticide residual test was carried out to check if any traces of
pesticide were present in the flower waste. Nutritional analysis was carried out to check the
carbohydrate, protein, fiber, moisture and fat content in the flower waste. Sodium-meta-
bisulphate was added in small concentration as preservative. This can be used as poultry feed.
And by adding silage bacteria, it can be used as cattle feed.

3. Cosmetic cream: The hexane extract was taken and hexane was evaporated.The residue
was used as active ingredient. DPPH radical assay was carried out to check for its antioxidant
property. The cream was formulated by taking the active ingredient, petroleum jelly
(Moisturizer), menthol (Antipruritic, Cooling effect) and fragrance. All the components used
in the formulation of cream are in accordance with FDA (US Food and Drug administration)
Standards.

4. Fertilizer: The waste collected and grinded to reduce its particle size, this itself can be
used as fertilizer. Another approach is by adding inoculums of micro-organisms to convert
into Bio-fertilizer.

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Results and Conclusions:
 The phytochemical screening carried out for the marigold flower waste showed positive
results indicating presence of Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Tannins, Resins and Saponins.
These compounds have therapeutic values and they can be extracted from marigold
flower waste before formulating it into any of the products.

 The formulated liquid Hand-wash showed good emulsifying property by dispersing oil in
water, showed alkalinity of 7.5 and did not form any precipitate when reacted with salts
present in hard water indicating its effectiveness even in hard water.

 The pesticide residual test showed thatOrganochlorine and Organophosphorous pesticide

were below detection limit according to Environmental Protection Standards. Nutritional
analysis revealed that the marigold flower cake contains carbohydrates (2%), protein
(7.5%), fat (2.25%) and fiber (4.5%), Moisture (82.5%) and also lutein (by literature)
which has enhancing effect on chicken skin color and egg yolk color. This marigold
flower cake can be used as feed for poultry. With the addition of silage bacteria (which
help in better digestion), it can also be used as cattle feed.

 The cosmetic cream developed can be used as Sunscreen, DPPH radical assay carried out
for hexane extract of marigold flower showed 90.67% antioxidant property and the
components used for formulation i.e petroleum jelly is a very good moisturizer and
menthol which gives cooling effect and cures sun burn.

 As the size of the particle is reduced, the fertilizer has higher uptake in plants and micro-
organism added enhances plants growth. Hence this flower waste can be added to the soil
to increase the soil fertility.

Scope for future work:

Various value added products like natural dyes for dyeing, natural colorants for food and
drugs, herbal powder as Holi colors, natural paints and natural repellants for bugs can be
developed from marigold flower waste.Quantitative and qualitative analysis of different
Alkaloids, Saponins, Resins, Flavonoids and Tannins would be done and simple extraction
and purification procedures can be developed to obtain these therapeutic components.High
value products like Lutein can be extracted and can be used in nutraceuticals.

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Different waste flowers like chrysanthemum, rose, jasmine which are found abundantly in
waste from market, temples, dargahs etc. can be studied and various value added products
can be developed. The bulk waste generated can also be used as feedstock for Biogas.