Resumo

VILLABONA ORTIZ, Ángel; PAZ ASTUDILLO, Isabel Cristina  e  MARTINEZ GARCIA, Jasser. Characterization of Opuntia ficus-indica for using as a natural coagulant. Rev. colomb. biotecnol [online]. 2013, vol.15, n.1, pp.137-144. ISSN 0123-3475.

Currently, municipalities in the Colombian Atlantic Coast do not have potable water supply. The implementation of the Tuna as a coagulant is a traditional practice in rural communities, but is used in craft way. In the present investigation, the characterization of the stalk of Tuna (Opuntia ficus-indica) growing in the wild in the Bolivar department, and of the powder extracted from this plant was realized with the purpose to identify components associated with its coagulant power to remove color and turbidity in raw water. The stalks of this plant were subjected to cutting, peeling, drying, grinding, sieving and depigment for obtaining the coagulant. The overall process yield was 65g of coagulant/kg of vegetal material. The results also indicated that the stalk of Tuna contains high moisture content and low amounts of saponins, flavonoids, minerals, calcium and iron. It allowed concluding that these metabolites and salts are not responsible of the coagulant power of plant due to the insignificant amounts in which they are present. Therefore, it is presumed that other chemical species such as polygalacturonic acid and alginic compounds are those that confer the quality to the biomaterial. Also, the coagulant power of extracted material was evaluated. The effect of three dosis on the color, turbidity and pH of trated water was analized. The results indicated that it has the capacity to remove 50% of color and 70% of turbity from crude water with high initial turbidity. Also, it does not affect significantly its pH.

Palavras-chave : raw water; clarification; flavonoids; saponoids; turbidity.

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