Fruit waste management by pigment production and utilization of residual as bioadsorbent

Dry powder of fruit wastes including pomegranate, grapes, lime, apple, and papaya was used to examine their pigment extraction capability. Solvent combination of hexane and acetone (1:1) produced the maximum extraction for lime waste with a yield of 1.65%. Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry analysis of the crude pigment of lime exhibited the abundance of compounds like chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, and coumaric acid. Three major bands were obtained in Thin Layer Chromatography. Column Chromatographic purification using ethyl acetate and hexane mixture as eluting phase showed a retention factor of 0.62 for the major band. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance revealed the final structure of the compound as chlorogenic acid. Slight inhibition was exhibited by the compound against Escherichia coli. Adsorption of arsenate by residual fruit waste revealed the highest adsorption in grapes with 92% efficiency. This study enlightens an alternative approach of fruit waste management with the production of value-added products and its utilization of residue as bioadsorbent.