Homogenized pastes were prepared by adding top-bond white glue as binder to natural fibrous material prepared out of different proportions of bamboo (Ozizentera arbonica), coconut husk (Cocus nucifera), sponge (Acanthus montanus) and wood (cordial). Test samples were prepared from dried cast samples for creep and hardness tests. The results of the analysis were used to determine the material th...

Chlorogenic acids (CGA) are the main phenolic compounds in coffee and coffee has one of the highest concentrations of CGA of all plant constituents. In this study, the levels of CGA in certain coffee (Arabica Jimma (ArJM), Arabica Nekemit (ArNK), Arabica Sidamo (ArSD), Arabica Jimma (ArJM) raw, and Arabica Jimma (ArJM) Husk) brands found in Ethiopia were determined using High Performance Liquid...

Moving towards sustainable agriculture implies exploring the interconnections between farming and the environment, and soil is a key component of sustainability. Mulching is one of the methods to protect and enhance the productivity of the soil. We studied here the effect of mulching applied to mandarin tree rows for weed control in two localities near Tortosa, Spain, to compare its performance...

Biochar production and use are part of the modern agenda to recycle wastes, and to retain nutrients, pollutants, and heavy metals in the soil and to offset some greenhouse gas emissions. Biochars from wood (eucalyptus sawdust, pine bark), sugarcane bagasse, and substances rich in nutrients (coffee husk, chicken manure) produced at 350, 450 and 750°C were characterized to identify agronomic and ...

Arsenic pollution became a great problem in the recent past in different countries including Bangladesh. The microlevel studies were conducted to see the spatial variation of arsenic in soils and plant parts contaminated through ground water irrigation. The study was performed in shallow tube well command areas in Sadar Upazila (subdistrict), Faridpur, Bangladesh, where both soil and irrigation...

Adding catalysts such as boric acid into biomass is a flexible method to achieve high biochar yield with low carbon emission levels. This work is directed towards investigating the effects of boric acid content on biochar yield, composition, and property through a two-step pyrolysis of rice husk. The results showed that biochar yields, compositions, and properties were associated with the amoun...

Laccases are copper-containing enzymes involved in the degradation of lignocellulosic materials and used in the treatment of phenol-containing wastewater. In this study we investigated the effect of culture conditions, i.e. submerged or semi-solid, and copper supplementation on laccase production by Trametespubescens grown on coffee husk, soybean pod husk, or cedar sawdust. The highest specific...

The ability of two different strains of Ceratocystis fimbriata for fruity aroma production by solid state fermentation (SSF) was tested on coffee pulp and coffee husk complemented with glucose as substrates. Experiments were carried out in 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks and the experimental conditions were: 70% of initial moisture, 20% of glucose addition and pH 6.0. Aeration was made by passive diff...

In this study, the modified rice husk was tested to remove Cu(II) from water. Batch experiments were carried out to evaluate the adsorption characteristics of the modified rice husk for Cu(II) removal from aqueous solutions. The adsorption isotherms, thermodynamic parameters, kinetics, pH effect, and desorbability were examined. The results show that the maximum adsorption capacity of the modif...

Rice husk and sawdust were selected as the raw materials for a study of biomass char yield in the range of 600 to 900 °C. It was found that temperature was the primary factor affecting the biomass char yield. The yield of the rice husk and sawdust chars decreased significantly with increasing temperature. As the residence time increased, the biomass char yield decreased. The smaller the size of...