Pine needles are relatively less explored lignocellulosic forest waste which can be saccharified to fermentable sugars and be used in subsequent conversion to biofuels. Microbial lipids were produced ...from pine needles hydrolysate and recovered lipid liquor. Ultrasound assisted pretreatment increased the cellulose content by 20.679%, 27.17%, 32.21%, and 35.61% when treated for 60 min at varying NaOH concentrations (1–4%). The 4-feed batch sachharification was performed to investigate the effect of increasing substrate loadings and fixed initial concentration (5% w/v) and yielded maximum increase of 70.23% in reducing sugars. The pine needle hydrolysate yielded 19.581 g/L total lipids, 35.888 g/L biomass concentration and lipid concentration at 67.46% g/g. Simultaneously, at equimolar ratios of HCl and liquor resulted in highest yields for total lipids (6.92 g/L) and traces of inhibitors. The fatty acids distribution and biodiesel properties revealed a similar biodiesel quality to that of palm oil. Findings from this study facilitate the complete utilisation of pine needles for microbial lipid production to resolve forest fires, and in keeping view of climate, fuels and inorganic resources towards developing a circular bioeconomy.
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•Chemical composition, physicochemical properties and extraction of nano cellulose.•Need of pine needles valorisation and their utilisation in multidimensional fields.•Pine needles ...role as antibacterial, bio-catalyst, reinforcing and adsorbing agents.•Potential of Pine needles in comparison to other biomasses in multiple applications.•Current challenges in utilisation and future prospectus of Pine needles wastes.
Pine needles (PNs) are one of the largest bio-polymer produced worldwide. Its waste, i.e., fallen PNs, is mostly responsible for forest fires and is a major challenge. In present article, we have reviewed differenteffortsmadeto tackle this situation. PNs have been used in various fields such asin composite, water purification industries,electronic devices, etc. Gasification is one of the appealing processes for turning PNs into bio-energy; pyrolysis technique has been employed to create various carbon-based water purification materials; saccharification combined with fermentation produced good yields of bio-ethanol; Pd or Ni/PNs biocatalyst showed good catalytic properties in variousreactionsand pyrolysis with or without catalyst is an alluring technique to prepare bio-fuel. Nano cellulose extracted from PNs showed appealing thermal and mechanical strength. The air quality of nearbyenvironment was examinedby studying the magnetic properties of PNs. Packing materials made of PNs showed exceptional ethylene scavenging abilities.
Utilizing waste lignocellulosic biomass to synthesize biofuel precursors constructs an important way to solve the current energy crisis. In this work, we have prepared a sulfonated acid catalyst from ...pine needles derived biochar using chlorosulfonic acid for conversion of fructose to levulinic acid and levulinic acid to ethyl levulinate. In the best optimized conditions, sulfonated biochar as a catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity for the fructose conversion to levulinic acid and its esterification to ethyl levulinate with yield 33% and 97%.
•Biochar (BC) has been prepared from pine needles biomass waste.•Sulfonation of biochar (SBC) results in Brønsted acidic sites.•SBC has been used as catalyst for the conversion of fructose to levulinic acid.•Ethyl levulinate has been synthesized from levulinic acid in 97% yield.
In this study, decolorization and degradation of malachite green dye was studied using the laccase immobilized pine needle biochar. Successful immobilization of biochar was achieved by adsorption and ...confirmed through scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). High laccase binding of 64.4 U/g and high immobilization yield of 78.1% was achieved using 4U of enzyme at pH3 and temperature 30 °C. The immobilized laccase retained >50% relative activity in the pH range 2–7, >45% relative activity at 65 °C and >55% relative activity at 4 °C for 4 weeks. The re-usability of immobilized enzyme was checked with 2, 2′-azino-bis 3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) substrate and enzyme retained 53% of its activity after 6 cycles. Immobilized laccase was used for the degradation and decolorization of azo dye malachite green in aqueous solution. More than 85% removal of malachite green dye (50 mg/L) was observed within 5 h. FTIR and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis clearly indicated the breakdown of dye and presence of metabolites (leuco malachite green, methanone, 4-(dimethyl amino)phenyphenyl and 3-dimethyl-phenyl amine) in gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis confirmed the dye degradation. Phytotoxicity analysis indicated that the enzymatic degradation resulted in lesser toxic metabolites than the original dye. Thus, laccase immobilized biochar can be used as an efficient biocatalytic agent to remove dye from water.
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•Laccase was immobilized on pine needle biochar by adsorption.•Immobilized enzyme displayed better pH, temperature and storage stability.•Immobilized laccase displayed >85% removal of malachite green dye within 5 h.•Presence of key pathway metabolites in GC-MS analysis confirmed degradation.•Phytotoxicity analysis indicated non-toxicity of degraded metabolites.
The study aims at providing a cleaner technology by employing a combinatorial approach of mild chemical treatment of 1% Ca(OH)2 followed by Phanerochaete chrysosporium, (laccase producer) on paddy ...straw and pine needles in combination, for getting cellulose-rich pulp for making biodegradable paper sheets. Response surface methodology was adopted by choosing two response parameters – cellulose content and residual lignin content after pulping to optimize the cooking conditions. The pulp derived after optimizing the parameters i.e., solid: liquid ratio (1:7), temperature (160 °C), time of digestion (60 min), and NaOH concentration (4%) was characterized. SEM and FTIR analysis, showed a more condensed cellulose network and –OH bonds when compared with alpha-cellulose. Best pulp (kappa no. 24 and ֯SR 59) was casted to produce biodegradable paper sheets of different GSM types (40, 50, 75, 100 GSM), and their different mechanical properties were tested. The maximum tensile strength (110 Nm/g) and Cobb index (345.77 g/m2) were seen in 100 GSM sheets which is comparable with regular corrugated sheets.
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•Combination approach for making paper sheet using two biomass has been evaluated.•Pulping of biomass with unique combination of alkali and microbial method.•Studying mechanical properties and comparison with presently used paper products.•Comparing prepared biodegradable GSM sheets with presently used paper products.•Applicative strategy to avert deforestation by pulp making from biomass.
In this study, the distributions of thallium (Tl), and other potential toxic elements, such as Cd, Co, Cu, Pb, Sr, As, Cr, Ni, Zn, and Mn in needles, tree rings and soils of pine trees in one of the ...largest pyrite mining areas in the world, i.e., Yunfu, China were investigated. The results showed that pseudo-total Tl concentration of the tree rings ranged from 0.41 to 2.03 mg/kg (average: 1.12 mg/kg) during the year of 1998 to 2011. This indicates an overall obvious enrichment of Tl. Further investigation of element level variations in the pine needles showed a negative correlation between Tl content and the distance from the mining area. The results of Principal Component Analysis additionally demonstrated that Tl in the tree rings was most likely derived from the pine needles. Notably, Tl contents in the tree rings exhibited generally similar distribution pattern to the annual production intensity of Yunfu pyrite mining activities. The findings suggest that metal(loid)s in particular of Tl in pine tree rings can be used as alternative proxies to approximatively reconstruct the chronological change of atmospheric environmental pollution induced by pyrite associated mining/smelting activities.
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•Pyrite mining/smelting associated activities induce regional thallium (Tl) pollution.•The enrichment/pollution of other metal(loid)s such as arsenic was also visible.•Tl in tree rings of pines well responds to the annual yield of pyrite production.•Tree rings of pines may be alternative bio-indicator of Tl contamination.
Most cervical cancers are associated with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Currently, cervical cancer treatment entails surgical removal of the lesion, but treatment of infection and ...preventing tissue damage are issues that still remain to be addressed. Herbal medicine and biological studies have focused on developing antiviral drugs from natural sources. In this study, we analyzed the potential antiviral effects of Pinus densiflora Sieb. et Zucc. leaf extracts against HPV. The pine needle extracts from each organic solvent were analyzed for antiviral activity. The methylene chloride fraction (PN-MC) showed the highest activity against HPV pseudovirus (PV). The PN-MC extract was more effective before, rather than after treatment, and therefore represents a prophylactic intervention. Mice were pre-treated with PN-MC via genital application or oral administration, followed by a genital or subcutaneous challenge with HPV PV, respectively. The HPV challenge results showed that mice treated via genital application exhibited complete protection against HPV. In conclusion, PN-MC represents a potential topical virucide for HPV infection.
To elucidate the temporal changes in the radiocesium distribution in forests contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, we monitored the
Cs concentration and inventory within ...forests from 2011 to 2015 across nine plots containing variable tree species and different contamination levels. The
Cs concentrations in needles and branches decreased exponentially at all coniferous plots, with effective ecological half-lives of 0.45-1.55 yr for needles and 0.83-1.69 yr for branches. By contrast, the
Cs concentration in deciduous konara oak leaves did not change over the five years. The concentration of
Cs in oak wood increased by 37-75%, whereas that in Japanese red pine decreased by 63% over the five years. In Japanese cedar and hinoki cypress, the
Cs concentration in wood showed an increasing trend in half of the plots. The changes in
Cs in the organic and mineral soil layers were not strongly related to the tree species or contamination level. Our multi-site, multi-species monitoring results revealed that the pattern of temporal changes in radiocesium in the 9 forest plots was similar overall; however, changes in
Cs in needles/leaves and wood differed among tree species.
The present study aims to explore the catalytic effect of nickel doped gamma-alumina on thermal decomposition behavior of waste pine needle (PN) biomass. Effect of catalysts on pyrolysis behavior was ...firstly investigated through thermogravimetric (TG) analysis to determine the kinetics and mechanism of the process and then laboratory scale semi-batch reactor was used to determine the distribution and composition of the pyrolysis products. The kinetic parameters (such as activation energy (Ea) and pre-exponential parameter (A)) were evaluated using isoconversional (Ozawa Flynn Wall (OFW) and Kissinger Akahira Sunose (KAS)) methods, while reaction mechanism was elucidated using Criado plots. The results showed a significant reduction in activation energy and an improvement in reaction rate after incorporation of catalysts in the process. Comparison of experimental curves with theoretical Criado plots showed a multistep complex reaction mechanism. Thermodynamic parameters (such as Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy) were also determined for the process. Pyrolysis experiments showed that catalysts addition also effected the distribution and quality of the products. Inclusion of catalysts increased the hydrocarbon and phenolic content in the bio-oil and reduced oxygen content. Ni/Al2O3 is more promising catalyst in terms of oxygen reduction potential and production of hydrocarbon and phenolic compounds as compared to Al2O3 catalyst. Catalytic pyrolysis requires less energy and produces higher quality bio-oil, which makes it a cleaner option for the sustainable utilization of harmful pine needles. The study will assist in the design, optimization and scale-up of the process at large industrial level.
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•Kinetics of non-catalytic and catalytic pyrolysis of pine needle was evaluated.•Incorporation of catalysts reduces reaction temperature as well as process activation energy.•Nickel addition to γ-Al2O3 brings further improvement in reaction kinetics.•Reaction mechanism and thermodynamics of the process was also evaluated.•Catalysts addition also brings improvement in the product quality.
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