Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, NG7 2RD, UK.
School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, LE12 5RD, UK.
Carbohydr Polym. 2020 Aug 1;241:116414. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116414. Epub 2020 May 12.
Okra extract is known to have potential application as a bio-flocculant for wastewater treatment. However, no research to date has given insight into the components responsible for the flocculating ability of okra extract or its flocculating mechanism. The work presented here addresses this knowledge gap showing that pectin, especially pectin homogalacturonan (HGA) regions, appear to be the polysaccharides responsible for the flocculating ability of okra extract. The way pectin works in flocculation may be best explained by a polymer bridging mechanism. Specifically, a linear relationship between okra bio-flocculating ability and pectin homogalacturonan region to rhamnogalacturonan-I region weight ratio (HGA/RG-I) was found (y = 2.0x+47.6, R = 0.93, when GalA content > 300 mg/g extract), which was also validated using commercial citrus peel pectin.
秋葵提取物被认为具有作为生物絮凝剂用于废水处理的潜在应用。然而，迄今为止，没有研究深入了解秋葵提取物的絮凝能力或其絮凝机制所涉及的成分。本研究旨在填补这一知识空白，表明果胶，尤其是果胶同半乳糖醛酸（HGA）区域，似乎是秋葵提取物絮凝能力的主要贡献者。果胶在絮凝中的作用方式可以通过聚合物桥接机制来最好地解释。具体来说，发现秋葵生物絮凝能力与果胶同半乳糖醛酸区域到鼠李半乳糖醛酸-I 区域重量比（HGA/RG-I）之间存在线性关系（当半乳糖醛酸含量>300mg/g 提取物时，y=2.0x+47.6，R=0.93），这也使用商业柑橘皮果胶进行了验证。
