Factors influencing smallholder farmer’s perspective toward sustainable management of pineapple waste

Malaysia is one of the world major producers of pineapple. This tropical fruit produces a substantial quantity of by-products such as leaf fibres. These fibres are one of the abundantly available waste materials in Malaysia. They are dumped, left decomposed or even burnt. This paper aimed to identify the factors that influence the perspective of smallholder farmers toward sustainable management of pineapple waste. The study was conducted in Johor among 150 pineapple smallholder farmers. The primary data were collected through a face-to-face interview using a questionnaire. This study employed a random sampling technique by applying the proportionate stratified sampling method, where it ensures the presence of key subgroups within the sample. Descriptive and factor analysis was carried out to analyze the gathered data. From the analysis, four factors were extracted, namely, subjective norms, knowledge, perceived behavioral control and agricultural extension and advisory services. The result provided a platform for smallholder farmers to put more concern towards the utilization of pineapple waste as it provides additional income for smallholder farmers, develop a green environment as well as boost economic growth.

Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Essential Oils Extracted from Pineapple Waste

Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merril), one of the major fruit crops, is mainly used for raw consumption and for industrial juice production, which creates large amounts of residues. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that pineapple waste accounts for between 50 to 65 % of the total weight of the fruit. Industrial pineapple waste is a major source of pollution as important quantities of primary residues are not further processed. Pineapple waste contains bioactive compounds such as carotenoids, polyphenols, fibers, vitamins, enzymes, and essential oils. These phytochemicals can be used in the food industry, medicine and pharmacy, textile, and others. This review highlights essential oil and other bioactive compounds extracted from pineapple waste and the composition of pineapple essential oil. Pineapple peels are the potential raw material for essential oil extraction through various methods. Modern spectrometric methods have shown that essential oil extracted from pineapple waste comprises esters, alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones. From this overview, it can be concluded that there is an important need for further research into pineapple waste as a potential source of valuable byproducts, as well as new techniques to studying industrial organic residuals to achieve higher recovery rates of valuable bioactive compounds used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetic and chemical industries as well as for developing new functional foods.

Recent Updates on the Conversion of Pineapple Waste (Ananas comosus) to Value-Added Products, Future Perspectives and Challenges

Pineapple waste accounts for a significant part of waste accumulated in landfill which will further contribute to the release of greenhouse gases. With the rising pineapple demands worldwide, the abundance of pineapple waste and its disposal techniques are a major concern. Exploiting the pineapple waste into valuable products could be the most sustainable way of managing these residues due to their useful properties and compositions. In this review, we concentrated on producing useful products from on-farm pineapple waste and processing waste. Bioenergy is the most suitable option for green energy to encounter the increasing demand for renewable energy and promotes sustainable development for agricultural waste. The presence of protease enzyme in pineapple waste makes it a suitable raw material for bromelain production. The high cellulose content present in pineapple waste has a potential for the production of cellulose nanocrystals, biodegradable packaging and bio-adsorbent, and can potentially be applied in the polymer, food and textile industries. Other than that, it is also a suitable substrate for the production of wine, vinegar and organic acid due to its high sugar content, especially from the peel wastes. The potentials of bioenergy production through biofuels (bioethanol, biobutanol and biodiesel) and biogas (biomethane and biohydrogen) were also assessed. The commercial use of pineapples is also highlighted. Despite the opportunities, future perspectives and challenges concerning pineapple waste utilisation to value-added goods were also addressed. Pineapple waste conversions have shown to reduce waste generation, and the products derived from the conversion would support the waste-to-wealth concept.

Dye Adsorbent by Activated Carbon

Dyes are used extensively in many industries making the research on color production more important. Despite that, dyes are important class of pollutant in which it is disposed in water resources and causes major environmental problems due to toxicity and carcinogenic property of dye. However, the disposed dye into the environment can be treated by several alternatives. In this study, activated carbon derived from pineapple crown, core and peel were prepared by chemical activation using phosphoric acid (H3PO4). Laboratory prepared activated carbons were used to identify the suitability of its application to adsord methylene blue and malachite green. The results indicated that the activated carbon derived from pineapple crown shows maximum adsorption of methylene blue (38.6%) and malachite green. This study shows a benefit of transforming agriculture waste to value added product and also helps to solve over abundance pineapple waste problem.

Adsorptive removal of methylene blue dye from soapnut shell & pineapple waste derived activated carbon

The methylene blue (MB) adsorption from the aqueous solution on activated charcoal from soapnut shell & pineapple waste were studied in batch mode. The influence of a major parameter determining the efficiency of the process, such as the initial concentration, the adsorbent dose and the contact time on the removal process, was studied. Experimental studies have shown that the adsorption capacity of methylene blue increases with the increase of the adsorbent dose and decreases with the increase of the initial concentration. The equilibrium time of 120 min was observed. The considered optimal dose for removing methylene blue from aqueous solutions from soapnut shell & pineapple waste were 0.6 g & 1g respectively. The equilibrium data corresponds precisely to the Langmuir isotherm.

Anaerobic Digestion of Pineapple Waste for Biogas Production and Application of Slurry as Liquid Fertilizer Carrier for Phosphate Solubilizers

Background: Pineapple peel wastes was seasonal which comprised of peels and rags. Their disposal posed a serious environmental pollution. Since pineapple peel was rich in cellulose, hemicellulose and other carbohydrates it was found to be a potential substrate for methane generation by anaerobic digestion.Methods: Here pineapple peel and pulp wastes were collected. The Hydraulic Retention Time of biogas (HRT) was monitored regularly for nine days and at three days intervals in gas collection bladders (Hans Seamless latex valve bladders). The slurry collected was periodically treated with phosphate solubilizers- Providencia rettgeri, a bacterial solubilizer and Meyerozyma gullerimondi, an yeast solubilizer. The biometric parameters of Ananas comosus was tested after slurry application. The germination percent of Passiflora edulis were also calculated.Result: The best combination of biogas slurry with maximum manorial content for phosphate solubilizers were treatment with cow dung and fruit waste in the ratio 1:2 with high amount of magnesium: 0.0037%, followed by 0.075 N and 0.00054% P which was selected for biometric observations for plants. Pineapple waste were good source for making biogas and slurry obtained could be utilized as carriers for phosphate solubilising liquid fertilizers.