Palm oil is one of the two most important vegetable oils in the world’s oil and fats market. The extraction and purification processes generate different kinds of waste generally known as palm oil mill effluent (POME). The environmental impact of POME cannot be over emphasized; hence the need for treatment measures to reduce these impacts before discharge. Therefore, this paper reviews the proc...

Net photosynthetic rates (A) of leaves on 11-year-old, field-grown apple trees (Malus domestica Borkh. cv. Golden Delicious) were measured after removal of fruits at four different stages of development. Defruiting decreased A by 21, 42, 27 and 7% when fruits were growing at 311, 293, 229 and 113 mg(DW) day(-1), respectively. Photosynthesis was inhibited more in the afternoon than in the mornin...

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is an important source of inland water pollution when released into local rivers or lakes without treatment. In the process of palm oil milling, POME is generat‐ ed through sterilization of fresh oil palm fruit bunches, clarification of palm oil and effluent from hydro-cyclone operations [Borja et al.,1996a]. POME is a viscous brown liquid with fine suspended solid...

Extracts of Riccinus communis were made in mid-polar solvent acetone and non-polar solvent, petroleum ether by using fresh stem, leaves and tender fruits. Bioassay and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) was done against various gram positive and gram negative bacteria by agar cup method. Significant activity was found in all acetone extracts against mainly gram positive bacteria and some gr...

The acyclic polyol sorbitol is a primary photosynthetic product and the principal photosynthetic transport substance in many economically important members of the family Rosaceace (e.g. almond [Prunus dulcis (P. Mill.) D.A. Webber], apple [Malus pumila P. Mill.], cherry [Prunus spp.], peach [Prunus persica L. Batsch], and pear [Pyrus communis]). To understand key steps in long-distance transpor...

The sequence of events which occurs during the ripening of the Passe-Crassane pear fruit have been previously studied. In this work, we have investigated the ripening of another climacteric fruit (Pyrus malus L. cv Golden Delicious) and of a nonclimacteric fruit (Prunus avium L. cv Bigarreau Napoléon). We show that both climacteric fruits exhibit the same preclimacteric sequence of events. Diff...

The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant activity as well as total phenol (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) in two fruits, apple (Malus domestica) and green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). The antioxidant activities were examined by two different methods namely DPPH free radical scavenging activity and reducing power scavenging activity. The results showed that considerable amou...

Today's urban gardening focuses mainly on vegetable production and rarely includes fruit trees. Health effects of consuming urban crops are questioned due to high local pollution loads. Here, we determined cadmium and lead content in the edible parts of nuts, berries, pome, and stone fruits harvested from fruit trees and shrubs within inner city neighbourhoods of Berlin, Germany. We analysed ho...

New palm oil mill processes are characterized by advanced oil separation technologies with zero dilution water (‘ECO-D’ for example as a new system for oil recovery without dilution water) and continuous sterilization of the fresh fruit bunch (FFB). These processes have a deep impact on the amount and composition of waste water (POME). Compared to conventional palm oil mills the total amount of...

Anaerobic sludge from palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment plant was used as a source of inocula for the conversion of POME into hydrogen. Optimization of temperature and initial pH for biohydrogen production from POME was investigated by response surface methodology. Temperature of 60oC and initial pHof 5.5 was optimized for anaerobic microflora which gave a maximum hydrogen production of 4...