Showing papers by "Zainul Akmar Zakaria published in 2017"
Book•
21 Dec 2017
TL;DR: Zahra et al. as mentioned in this paper proposed an alternative approach which is cheaper and easier to handle and has minimum potential potential impact to environmental quality, but without proper management, these wastes (both liquid and solid) posed serious threat to overall environmental quality notably from its slow degradation process.
Abstract: Agriculture has been the main industrial sector for various countries in the world. It provides millions of jobs to the population as well as being the main source of income for these countries. Nevertheless, with the increasing demand for agricultural produce, huge amount of agricultural waste are also produced. Using different physical, chemical, or biological approaches, these agricultural wastes, also loosely termed as biomass, present a huge potential to be valorized into various products such as biochemicals, biofuels, and biomaterials, mainly due to its high carbon composition. However, without proper management, these wastes (both liquid and solid) posed serious threat to overall environmental quality notably from its slow degradation process. Current approaches are effective but labor-intensive would normally require huge capital investment and generation of potential hazardous by-products. This prompted the need to have an alternative approach which is cheaper and easier to handle and has minimum potential impact to environmental quality. 1.1 Agriculture Industry Agriculture is generally defined as the basis for the establishment of modern human societies. It includes crop, animal husbandry, and fisheries to fulfill the food requirements of human population (Kesavan and Swaminathan 2008; Gomiero 2017). Agriculture has emerged from merely one of the means for human survival to a F.Z. Abas (*) • S.E. Zulkifli • R.S.R. Sulong Institute of Bioproduct Development, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia e-mail: fatma_zahra85@yahoo.com Z.A. Zakaria Department of Bioprocess Engineering & Institute of Bioproduct Development, Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia e-mail: zainul@ibd.utm.my
10 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors tried to optimize the operating pyrolysis condition for palm kernel shell to produce maximum yield of pyroligneous acid with highest total phenolic contents (TPC).
Abstract: Oil palm plantation generates huge income to Malaysia. At the same time, huge amount of oil palm biomass is also generated which needs to be properly managed. Pyrolysis is one of the approaches available to utilize the oil palm biomass to produce biocharcoal, pyroligneous acid (PA) and bio-oil. PA was produced by condensing the pyrolysis gas emitted and have wide range of potential application including antibacterial activity and antibiofilm activity. In this study, we tried to optimize the operating pyrolysis condition for palm kernel shell to produce maximum yield of PA with highest total phenolic contents (TPC). The optimized PA fraction was evaluated for its antibacterial and antibiofilm properties. Optimum pyrolysis condition resulted in the production of PA containing highest TPC was determined to be at 526°C, heating rate of 10°C/min and nitrogen flow rate of 0.43 L/min. The inhibition zone of concentrated PA extracted by ethyl acetate (CPAE) was determined within 29.3-32.7 mm while minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were in the range of 1.95-3.91 and 62.5-125 mg/mL, respectively. CPAE showed the capability to reduce biofilm formation by B. cereus, S. aureus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa up to 80-93% at 64 MIC within 24 h. The biofilm’s metabolite activities were also reduced to 77-93% within 24 h. Results of this study suggest that PA produced from palm kernel shell at optimum condition i.e. containing highest total phenolic contents, has good potential to be used for antibacterial and antibiofilm applications.
8 citations
27 Apr 2017
TL;DR: In this paper, the potential anti-termites and anti-fungal properties for pyrolysis of pineapple waste biomass were investigated, and they showed that PA from pineapple waste can act as antifungal and antitermite agents but not as anti-wood decaying fungi.
Abstract: Improper management of lignocellulosic biomass generated from agricultural activities would lead to serious environmental problems. Pyrolysis offers a simple yet efficient alternative technique where Pyroligneous acid (PA) is a major by-product obtained during slow pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass. In this study, the potential anti-termites and anti-fungal properties for PA obtained from the pyrolysis of pineapple waste biomass were investigated. PA from pineapple waste biomass showed insignificant inhibition properties against both Pycnoporus sanguineus and Coriolus versicolor, but were successful in inhibiting the growth of both Aspergillus niger and Botryodiplodia theobromae for 7 days when applied at 70% (v/v) and 100% (v/v) concentrations. PA also exhibited good anti-termites properties based on the 100% mortality of Coptotermes curvignathus after one week incubation. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of phenolic compounds and phenol with ortho substituents such as 2,6-dimethoxyphenol and 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol. Both compounds have been reported to play an important role in termiticidal activity from previous studies. This study indicates that PA from pineapple waste can act as antifungal and antitermite agents but not as anti-wood decaying fungi. This result can be used as a good preliminary indication for future application of PA from pineapple waste biomass as wood preservative.
8 citations