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Water Quality Improvement: Use of Indigenous Plant Materials
Published in Vinod Kumar Tripathi, Megh R. Goyal, Field Practices for Wastewater Use in Agriculture, 2021
S. Sivaranjani, Amitava Rakshit
Recently cacti species have been used for water treatment, in addition to Nirmali and M. oleifera. The common cactus genus for water treatment is Opuntia, which is known as ‘nopal’ in Mexico or ‘prickly pear’ in North America. The cactus is also used for medical purpose and dietary food source. The other than Opuntia, Cactus latifaria has also been successfully used as a natural coagulant. The higher coagulation activity is due to the presence of mucilage, which is viscous and complex carbohydrate present in inner and outer parts. The galacturonic acid present in Opuntia is possibly the active ingredient acts in coagulation mechanism, and it accounts for about 50% of turbidity removal. There are not enough research reports on coagulation mechanism of galacturonic acid that exists predominantly in polymeric form to provide ‘bridge for particles’ for absorption. There might be presence of some functional groups along chains of poly galacturonic acid, showing chemisorption between the charged particles. The presence of hydroxyl group also infers the possible intra-molecular interactions to distort the relative linearity of chain.
Weeds (Insects and Mites): Biological Control
Published in Brian D. Fath, Sven E. Jørgensen, Megan Cole, Managing Biological and Ecological Systems, 2020
Classical weed biocontrol was the serendipitous result of introducing the mealybug (Dactylopus ceylonicus thinking it was D. coccus), to India in 1795.[2] The purpose was to start a dye industry on the impenetrable stands of the South American prickly pear cactus, Opuntia vulgaris. The result was rapid cactus kill and little dye production. After 68 years and several eradication attempts the government distributed the insect for O. vulgaris control.
Efficiency of Opuntia ficus in the phytoremediation of a soil contaminated with used motor oil and lead, compared to that of Lolium perenne and Aloe barbadensis
Published in International Journal of Phytoremediation, 2018
Luisa F. Escobar-Alvarado, Mabel Vaca-Mier, Raymundo López-Callejas, Ma. Neftalí Rojas-Valencia
Even though the experiment with Opuntia ficus showed the highest biomass production, it was not the most efficient to remove TPH. This could mean that there is not a strong correlation between plant biomass and TPH removal, since Lolium perenne produced 11% less biomass than O. ficus but removed 1% more TPH. It is known that Opuntia ficus is capable of growing in rough environmental conditions, and the mechanisms used for its survival in these conditions could help it grow in polluted soil (SAGARGPA, 2011). Nonethless, L. perenne requires higher amounts of water and nutrients for its optimal growth.