Durian as Oil Absorbent

King Of The Fruit Is Effective Oil Absorbent - Researcher
By Chandravathani Sathasivam

KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (Bernama) -- It appears that the fetid-smelling, sickly sweet durian is not content at remaining South East Asia's 'King of the Fruit', judging by the connoisseurs who swear by the fruit.

Rather, the big, green thorny fruit which fetches high prices in a region known for its tropical fruits, is set to bring on the smile from environment lovers, as well.

It is set to play a significant role as an efficient oil absorbent in the recovery of spilled oil at coastal areas.

While the durian peel may be considered an agricultural waste by many, an innovative researcher begs to differ.

Dr S. Kathiresan, from the Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (AIMST) University, said the peel could be used to remove oil from water.

In a recent interview with Bernama, the lecturer in the university's Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, said:

"The results validated at laboratory scale indicated that chemically-modified durian peel powder is an efficient absorbent for recovery of spilled oil in water.

"The bio-absorbent could be used for cleaning oil spills along coastal areas, that cause adverse effects not only to all living sea organisms but also human economic activities.

"Usually, the manual and physical methods are employed for cleaning up oil spills along shoreline, rather than dispersants and detergents.

"Hence, the use of agro-wastes for environmental remediation has a huge commercial potential due to its efficiency in oil absorption, cost effectiveness and biodegradability."

Dr Kathiresan said that it all began with a simple experiment with durian peel collected and washed several times with tap water to remove any dirt or durian's flesh.

It was then cut to tiny pieces approximately five to eight centimetres long and then sun-dried, before grinding it into powder form.

"The durian peel is modified with variety of chemicals and oil for removal of spilled oil on aqueous solution (a solution in which the solvent is water).

Using Freundlich isotherm model and the kinetic studies, Dr Kathiresan said it was found that the rejuvenated fatty acid-modified durian peel was also able to retain its original efficiency, to absorb spilled oil on aqueous solution for at least three repeated cycles.

Currently, synthetic fibres, in particular polypropylene and polyurethane, are used in oil spill clean-up and are available for approximately US$100 (US$1 = RM3) per kilogramme.

Dr Kathiresan said he would present his research paper titled 'Fatty Acid Modified Durian Peel As An Efficient Biosorbent For Removal of Spilled Oil on Aqueous Media' at the 14th Asian Chemical Congress 2011 in September in Bangkok.

-- BERNAMA