ALINE TAKAOKA ALVES BAPTISTA

Título da Dissertação: Concentração da Proteína Presente nas Sementes de Moringa oleifera Lam. Responsável pelos Processos de Coagulação da Água

Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Angélica Marquetotti Salcedo Vieira

Data da Defesa: 24/02/2014

RESUMO GERAL

 INTRODUCTION
The Moringa oleifera belongs to the Moringacea family, it has seeds that act as a water clarifiying agent due to the presence of a high molecular weight cationic protein, which destabilizes the particles contained in the water playing the role of a natural coagulant.
AIMS
The present study aimed to concentrate the protein present in the seeds of Moringa oleifera Lam., responsible for the coagulation of water, characterizing the protein fractions obtained, and check your coagulant power in the treatment of surface water.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The seeds of Moringa used in the test were from Aracaju-SE and the low turbidity water samples (75 NTU) were collected from the Rio Pirapó basin, in the Sanitation Company of Paraná - SANEPAR. To obtain the coagulant, firstly it was removed the oil from the seeds of Moringa testing two extraction procedures with hexane solvent and the other with ethanol. After removing the oil contained in the seeds, aqueous and saline extraction were performed (NaCl 1M) to obtain the aqueous and saline coagulants respectively at a concentration of 1% (w / v). The produced coagulants were concentrated using a tangential ultrafiltration with hollow fiber membranes of polyethersulfone with 50 kDa , operating at a pressure of 1 bar and during the process of ultrafiltration (UF) it was analyzed the permeate flow and the fouling of the membrane. The coagulation assays were performed in jar test with saline coagulant, aqueous coagulant, their currents of concentrate and filtrate obtained after the UF, in order to evaluate the efficiency of these coagulants in the removal of color and turbidity parameters and compounds with absorption at UV254nm present in the raw water. It has been performed to all obtained coagulants, protein analysis according to Lowry, analysis of molecular weight distribution by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), zeta potential and analysis of dissolved organic carbon. All assays were performed in triplicate and analyzed by Statistc 8.0 software applying ANOVA, using the Tukey T test with 5% significance.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The saline and aqueous coagulants obtained from the defatted seeds promoted higher removal of the color and turbidity parameters and compounds with absorption at UV254nm when compared to the seed in nature. Thus, the ethanol was chosen as extraction solvent, because it has lower toxicity compared to hexane and also presented better results with the aqueous coagulant in the assays of coagulation/flocculation. Regarding the performance of the coagulants, the aqueous did not produce good results in the removal of parameters, reaching values of 37,05%, 52,80% and 18,50% in the removal of color, turbidity and UV254nm, in contrast the saline coagulant obtained good results of removal of 91,89%, 91,05% and 75,5% for the same parameters. As for the UF procedure, the use of coagulants in its original form or in the form of concentrate and filtrate has not resulted in significant differences when it regards the removal of the evaluated parameters. As for the UF procedure, the use of coagulants in its original form or in concentrate and filtrate forms, did not result in significant differences in the removal of the evaluated parameters. However, when regarding the analysis of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), the use of concentrated coagulant presented bigger advantage because the concentrate had less amounts of organic matter than the not ultrafiltrate coagulant. This lower amount of organic matter in the treated water decreases problems regarding taste, odor, reduces the growth of microorganisms during storage, besides reducing the risk of formation of trihalomethanes during the chlorine disinfection process, this substance is harmful to health as it is a carcinogen. The molecular weight range of proteins and peptides found in the aqueous coagulant were not the same as the one found for the saline coagulant. To the aqueous coagulant it has been found over 97% of protein fractions with molecular weight in a range from 0,57 to 0,90 kDa, whereas for saline coagulant it has been discovered more than a fraction of components, being 12,8 % distributed in the fraction from 0,90 to 6,5 kDa and the highest concentration of 71,5%, were low molecular weight compounds distributed in the ranges between 0,90 to 0,57 kDa and minor components 0,57 kDa.
CONCLUSION
The results from the coagulation /flocculation and sedimentation with coagulant Moringa oleifera Lam. saline, presented themselves as a good alternative for the treatment of raw water of low turbidity, with maximum removal of 91.89% of color, 91,05% of turbidty and 75,5% of compounds with absorption at UV254nm. The aqueous coagulant was not satisfactory when comparing it’s performance to the saline coagulant’s in the same working conditions. The ultrafiltration process produced a concentrate coagulant, with a lower remaining of dissolved organic carbon in the treated water. Considering the Moringa coagulant as natural and biodegradable, unlike what is observed with the use of chemical coagulants, the use of this coagulant in its concentrated form is presented as a good alternative in the treatment of water.
Key Words: Moringa oleifera Lam, protein, ultrafiltration, Coagulation/flocculation.

Artigos Publicados Vinculados a Dissertação:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1385894715005276?via%3Dihub