ABSTRACT A study performed in 2011 found that about 30% of the total quantity worldwide of food waste was fruit peels. The fruit peel wastes are very beneficial because of their phytochemical products and heavy metal adsorbent activity. Eleven samples of fruit peel wastes of some massively consumed local fruits were characterized for total phenolic and flavonoid content, and antioxidant capacity and evaluated as adsorbents to remove Pb(II) ions from aqueous solutions under different conditions of pH, contact time, adsorbent dose, and initial metal ion concentration. From a comparison study, it was found that the most efficient samples were apple and watermelon peels. The maximum adsorption capacities (qmax) for apple and watermelon peels were 52.36 and 76.34 mg/g, respectively, indicating that watermelon peels were more efficient. Comparative studies between the two peels revealed that the free energy E-value was 12.59 and 13.099 kJ/mol, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed that hydroxyl and carboxyl groups were responsible for metal adsorption. The results concluded that apple and watermelon peels had a reasonable biosorption capability to remove lead ions from aqueous solutions.
View Full Article
|