European Journal of Biotechnology and Bioscience

Authors
Luis G. Torres, Sandra Carpinteyro-Urban And Luis J. Corzo-Rios

Abstract
Galactomannans have a wide spectrum of applications. They can be used as thickening and gelling agents. Guar and locust bean gums have been reported with interesting applications in the printing and oil industries. At the end of the applications, the use of galactomannans as coagulant-flocculant aids has been reported recently. Our working group has published the use of guar, locust bean and mesquite seed gums (produced by Cyanaposis tetragonolobus, Ceratonia siliquia and Prosopis laevigata, respectively) in the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewaters. They have shown an interesting potential to substitute Fe an Al salts and polyacrylamide derivatives in the treatment of these kinds of wastewaters. This work report by the first time the use of the polysaccharides contained in seeds of two fruits very appreciated by their nutritional and even pharmaceutical properties. Annona diversifolia and A. muricata contain polysaccharides which are capable of reducing the COD, turbidity, and electrical conductivity in wastewaters. In the case of A. diversifolia,COD removals as high as 37.6% were obtained for a dose of 50 mg/L, producing 2 mL sludge/L. On the other hand, A. muricata removed 35% of the COD present, with a dose of 100 mg/L and producing 5 mL sludge/L.