Physico-chemical changes in cladodes of Opuntia ficus-indica as a function of the growth stage and harvesting areas.

The physicochemical properties of cladodes Opuntia ficus-indica (OFI) vary widely during maturation. However, few studies have been performed to evaluate changes in chemical characteristics on the pad depending on the maturity stages. Chemical proximate analysis like the content of total sugars, protein, dry matter, pH, conductivity and ash, depending on the variation of weight of the pad and the growing region was done to determine the changes of characteristics of nopal.

Comparison of novel Ziziphus lotus adsorbent and industrial carbon on methylene blue removal from aqueous solutions.

In this work, the use of a novel low-cost adsorbent derived from Ziziphus lotus (ZL) and industrial carbon (IC) has been successfully applied to the removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. The efficiency of this material was studied through Lagergren pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. The process for the novel activated carbon and the IC were best represented by the pseudo-second-order rate model.