REMOVAL OF POLLUTANTS FROM SEWAGE WITH GRINDED SHELLS OF APRICOT KERNELS

A review of the literature data on the use of biomass components of apricot trees (Prunusarmeniaca) as a sorption material for the extraction of various pollutants from waste and natural waters is carried out. The parameters of the sorption interaction at which the highest degree of removal of pollutants is achieved are given. It has been shown that it is possible to increase the sorption capacity of apricot biomass components by modifying it with various chemical reagents. It has been determined that the most studied sorption material is the shell of apricot kernels. It is determined that the largest number of publications is devoted to the use of the latter as raw materials for the production of activated carbons. It was revealed that the surface area and the total pore volume of activated carbons from the kernels of apricot fruits depend on the modes of carbonization and activation of raw materials. It is shown that activated carbons are effective sorbents for removing various pollutants (metal ions, dyes, oil and oil products) from aqueous media. It was found that the adsorption isotherms of pollutants are most adequately described in most cases by the Langmuir and Freundlich models, and the kinetics of the process is most often described by the pseudo-second order model.

Effects of Apricot and Apricot Kernels on Human Health and Nutrition: A Review of Recent Human Research

Plants are one of the most important sources of medicine for humans to face diseases and disorders. Despite some advances in the field of allopathic system of medicine, adverse reactions have not been prevented from being an integral part of modern medicine. Plants are one of the important sources of drug discovery in both modern and traditional medicine systems worldwide. Recent developments in food and nutrition, consumer preferences shifted to foods rich in nutraceuticals. Furthermore 70% of marketed drugs are either natural or semisynthetic materials which derived from plants. Most literature on complementary alternative medicine worldwide either reports the nature of phytocomponents in medicinal plants or shows a mechanistic basis for their pharmacological activities. The medicinal and therapeutic effect of apricot has not been studied so far. In this review, an attempt has been made highlight the importance of apricot and its kernel in human health and nutrition by summarizing the literature reports published to date. Apricot exhibited diversified effects on degenerative diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and hemostasis, at the same time has many pharmacological effects such as anti-parasitic, anti-aging, anti-atherosclerosis, renoprotective, hepatoprotective and antioxidant have been reported.

Evaluation of Protein and Antioxidant Content in Apricot Kernels as a Sustainable Additional Source of Nutrition

Apricot fruits are a favorite for consumption; however, their kernels are a rich source of nutritionally interesting substances, too. Nevertheless, in processing of apricots, the kernels remain often unused. In this study, 32 cultivars of different origin were analyzed for their protein content and content of secondary metabolites (phenolics and flavonoids). The weight and taste of kernels were assessed and these data were summarized for an evaluation of the attractiveness of the studied apricot kernels. Results showed that the protein content of kernels ranged from 14.56% to 28.77% and did not depend on the origin or weight of kernel, or taste. In addition, total phenolic (63.5–1277.3 mg GAE/100 g DW) and total flavonoid (0–153.1 mg CE/100 g DW) contents and antioxidant capacity (483.4–2348.4 mg TE/100 g DW) were measured in kernels. In conclusion, the Czech hybrids LE-5959, LE-5500 and French cultivar Koolgat are prospective for kernel processing and consumption because of their high protein content and sweet taste. Hybrid LI-3-6, originating in China, showed high protein content as well but because of bitter taste could be useful rather in medicine.

Effect of solvent type, extraction temperature, agitation speed and microwave power on phenolic compound extraction and antioxidant activity of apricot kernels (Prunus armeniaca L.)

Background: Prunus armeniaca L. is widely cultivated around the world. High consumption of their fruits produces a large quantity of the apricot kernel. The valorization of this by-product in term of polyphenol compounds seems to be important. Objective: The aim of the present study is to investigate the best conditions of phenolic compound extraction from apricot kernels in order to determine the effects of different parameters namely : time, stirring speed, solvent type, temperature, and microwave power on polyphenol yield. Methods: In this study, the effect of many parameters, such as the type of solvent (ethanol, methanol, acetone and water), the acetone concentration (40-70%, v/v), the extraction time, power of the microwave (100-900 W) and stirring speed on the extraction of total phenolic content (TPC) from apricot kernels was studied, using the approach of single factor experiments. Results: The importance of agitation speed was determined for polyphenol compound extraction from apricot kernels besides time, temperature and microwaves power, whereas the linear agitation in the water bath had no significant effect on the extraction of phenolic compounds. The best extraction conditions were 60% acetone, 300 W of microwave power for 5 min of extraction time, which gave a high TPC of 249.44 ±15.83 mg GAE/g DW. All the extraction conditions showed a significant effect (p <0.05) on the TPC. The antioxidant capacity (DPPH-RSA) of the extract was positively correlated with TPC in all tested methods. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the importance of agitation speed was determined for the extraction of phenolic compounds from apricot kernels by maceration. However, the linear agitation in the water bath had no significant effect on the extraction. Apricot kernel seems to be a good source of polyphenols compared to other previous studies present in literature.

Accumulation Pattern of Amygdalin and Prunasin and Its Correlation with Fruit and Kernel Agronomic Characteristics during Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) Kernel Development

To reveal the accumulation pattern of cyanogenic glycosides (amygdalin and prunasin) in bitter apricot kernels to further understand the metabolic mechanisms underlying differential accumulation during kernel development and ripening and explore the association between cyanogenic glycoside accumulation and the physical, chemical and biochemical indexes of fruits and kernels during fruit and kernel development, dynamic changes in physical characteristics (weight, moisture content, linear dimensions, derived parameters) and chemical and biochemical parameters (oil, amygdalin and prunasin contents, β-glucosidase activity) of fruits and kernels from ten apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars were systematically studied at 10 day intervals, from 20 days after flowering (DAF) until maturity. High variability in most of physical, chemical and biochemical parameters was found among the evaluated apricot cultivars and at different ripening stages. Kernel oil accumulation showed similar sigmoid patterns. Amygdalin and prunasin levels were undetectable in the sweet kernel cultivars throughout kernel development. During the early stages of apricot fruit development (before 50 DAF), the prunasin level in bitter kernels first increased, then decreased markedly; while the amygdalin level was present in quite small amounts and significantly lower than the prunasin level. From 50 to 70 DAF, prunasin further declined to zero; while amygdalin increased linearly and was significantly higher than the prunasin level, then decreased or increased slowly until full maturity. The cyanogenic glycoside accumulation pattern indicated a shift from a prunasin-dominated to an amygdalin-dominated state during bitter apricot kernel development and ripening. β-glucosidase catabolic enzyme activity was high during kernel development and ripening in all tested apricot cultivars, indicating that β-glucosidase was not important for amygdalin accumulation. Correlation analysis showed a positive correlation of kernel amygdalin content with fruit dimension parameters, kernel oil content and β-glucosidase activity, but no or a weak positive correlation with kernel dimension parameters. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the variance accumulation contribution rate of the first three principal components totaled 84.56%, and not only revealed differences in amygdalin and prunasin contents and β-glucosidase activity among cultivars, but also distinguished different developmental stages. The results can help us understand the metabolic mechanisms underlying differential cyanogenic glycoside accumulation in apricot kernels and provide a useful reference for breeding high- or low-amygdalin-content apricot cultivars and the agronomic management, intensive processing and exploitation of bitter apricot kernels.

The Use of Biomass of Apricot Kernels as a Material for the Extraction of Methylene Blue from Aqueous Media

The possibility of using a sorption material based on apricot kernels for the extraction of methylene blue (MG) dye from aqueous media is considered. The maximum sorption capacity of the material was established – 0.58 mmol/g (185.6 mg/g). The obtained isotherm was processed within the framework of monomolecular and polymolecular adsorption models. The equations that most accurately describe the isotherm are determined, and the correlation coefficients are calculated. It has been shown that the sorption isotherm of the MG dye by the crushed apricot kernel (CCA) is best described by the Langmuir (R2 = 0.9724) and Dubinin-Radushkevich (R2 = 0.9818) models. However, when comparing the plots of the function A = f(Ce) of the sorption processes of the dye by the CCA sorbent according to the models under study with the experimental dependence, it was found that the sorption process is most accurately described by the sorption models of Dubinin-Radushkevich and Temkin. Using the equations of the Langmuir and Dubinin-Radushkevich models, the thermodynamic parameters of the process were calculated: the sorption energy (E = 8.066 kJ/ mol) and the Gibbs energy (∆Go = -8.597 kJ/mol).