Background and Aim: The antibacterial effects of coconut products have been extensively studied in the recent years. Due to the high prevalence of periodontal disease and the role of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A. actinomycetemcomitans) in periodontitis, antimicrobial agents can be effective in controlling this condition. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the antimicrobial effects of coconut water and coconut oil on A. actinomycetemcomitans. Materials and Methods: coconut water was extracted by cracking a coconut, and coconut oil was extracted by an oil-pressing machine by the cold pressing method at-50 ̊, C. The disc diffusion test was carried out on 4 plates containing coconut oil, coconut water, positive control, and negative control to measure the diameter of growth inhibition zone. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined. All tests were repeated 3 times. Results: coconut oil in 100% concentration showed no antibacterial effect on A. actinomycetemcomitans in the disc diffusion test. Thus, the MBC and MIC were not determined for the coconut oil. coconut water demonstrated a bactericidal effect with 11, 9, and 0 mm growth inhibition zone diameter on 3 consecutive repetitions. According to independent t-test, a significant difference existed between the diameter of growth inhibition zone caused by coconut oil and positive control (P= 0. 001). Conclusion: coconut oil showed no antibacterial effect on A. actinomycetemcomitans, and the antibacterial effect of coconut water on A. actinomycetemcomitans was very weak.

Background: In recent years, various toxic chemicals/compounds have been widely detected at dangerous levels in drinking water in many parts of the world posing a variety of serious health risks to human beings. One of these toxic chemicals is lead, so this paper aimed to evaluate of efficiency coconut husk as cheap adsorbent for removal lead under different conditions.Methods: In the spring of 2015, batch studies were performed in laboratory (Branch of Hamadan, Islamic Azad University,) to evaluate the influences of various experimental parameters like pH, initial concentration, adsorbent dosage, contact time and the effect of temperature on the adsorption capacity of coconut husk for removal lead from aqueous solution.Results: Optimum conditions for Pb (II) removal were pH 6, adsorbent dosage 1g/100ml of solution and equilibrium time 120 min. The adsorption isotherm was also affected by temperature since the adsorption capacity was increased by raising the temperature from 25 to 45 oC. The equilibrium adsorption isotherm was better described by Freuindlich adsorption isotherm model.Conclusion: It is evident from the literature survey that coconut-based biosorbents have shown good potential for the removal of various aquatic pollutants. coconut husk-based activated carbon can be a promising adsorbent for removal of Pb from aqueous solutions.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: coconuts and their derivatives, such as copra and charcoal, are leading commodities of Indonesia contributing to local consumption and exports. Life cycle assessment is a tool for evaluating the inputs, outputs, and potential impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle and is associated with product sustainability. The cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of copra and coconut shell charcoal aims to determine the impacts of coconut, copra, and charcoal production from copra byproducts quantitatively and identify scenario improvements to reduce the impacts and enhance sustainability. METHODS: Field observations were conducted in tall coconuts in Agrabinta, South Cianjur, and in copra and coconut shell charcoal factories in Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia. The life cycle assessment method comprises the following four stages: goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment, and interpretation. The scope of this study was based on land preparation, nurseries, planting, fertilization, harvesting of mature coconuts, transportation of mature coconuts, copra production, transportation of coconut shells, and charcoal production. Ten impacts were calculated using the Center of Environmental Science of Leiden University Impact Assessment baseline method with Simapro software. FINDINGS: This study obtained ten impact categories, not only the global warming potential impact similar to most studies of perennial crop products in Indonesia. Normalization results showed that the category with enormous impacts on humans from coconut cultivation and copra processing activities had terrestrial ecotoxicity potential. The largest impact on charcoal production was on the human toxicity potential. Separated coconut factories from plantations have a high impact because of high fuel transportation. Four recommendation scenarios were formulated: 1) utilization of smoke from pyrolysis into liquid, 2) implementation of organic coconut cultivation practices, 3) integration of coconut plantations with copra and charcoal processing plants and processing smoke into liquid, and 4) combining scenarios 1, 2, and 3. In scenario 3, seven of ten impacts showed the lowest value among other scenarios. This scenario potentially decreases the impact from 68. 35 to 99. 62 percent. The human toxic potential of coconut shell charcoal decreased from 2. 92 × 10 to 109. 43 kilogram 1, 4-dichlorobenzene equivalent, terrestrial ecotoxicity potential decreased from 59 to 19 kilogram 1, 4-dichlorobenzene equivalent, and the global warming potential decreased from 1753. 55 to 93. 03 kilogram carbon dioxide equivalent. CONCLUSION: Life cycle assessment can evaluate the impacts of copra and coconut shell charcoal from the coconut cultivation to the production stages. Opportunities for improvement can be identified from 5 the interpretation and hotspots. Scenario analysis results showed the potential of developing integrated coconut agroindustry with coconut plantations, copra factories, and charcoal factories to produce liquid smoke in one location. This integration markedly reduces the impact due to the reduction of transportation fuel and emissions and the treatment of air pollution from pyrolysis.

In this study, a low-cost feedstock was chosen for biodiesel production. coconut fatty acid Distillate (CD) is the by-product collected from coconut oil refineries which contain lauric fatty acid as a major saturated fatty acid. The standard titration procedure was adopted to find Free Fatty Acid (FFA) content. The FFA was found to be 24. 5% which requires esterification and transesterification processes to produce biodiesel. In the first stage, FFA was reduced to 1. 8% by acid (H2SO4) esterification followed by transesterification to produce biodiesel. The CD BioDiesel (CDBD) production was optimized involving four parameters and three levels of L9 orthogonal array. The optimized parameters were reaction time (40 min), reaction temperature (50 ° C), catalyst concentration (0. 5%), and methanol to oil ratio (8: 1). The order of significance of parameters was determined using ANOVA. The results showed that reaction time had more influence on the biodiesel production whereas methanol to oil ratio had the least influence. A linear regression model was developed to predict the yield and was compared with the experimental values. R2 value for the model was 95%, and the error value is less than 15% indicating a good fit of the model. A maximum yield of 92. 9% was obtained utilizing the optimized, which was very close to the prediction. Thus, a low-cost feedstock, which is otherwise marketed as a low-value product, could be utilized in making biodiesel adding sustainability.

Indonesia is one of the world's largest producers of agricultural commodities and waste. The abundance of agricultural waste releases CO2 into the atmosphere and contributes to global warming and climate change. Carbon sequestration is one of the applicable and low-cost technologies to achieve sustainability and net zero emissions. Here, we studied the coconut shell biochar as a composite material for a permeable paving block as an alternative to carbon sequestration. The novelty of this study elaborates on the direct connection between coconut-shell biochar, pyrolysis temperature, and its application as the paving block based on its chemical and physical properties. The pyrolysis temperature of the coconut shell biochar was varied at 400°C and 500°C to obtain biochar with the highest porosity. Biochar pyrolyzed at 500°C possesses the highest porosity with the surface-active area of 32,565 m2/g. Composite pavers were fabricated by mixing the water, fine aggregates, Portland cement, and varied percentages of the ball-milled biochar pyrolyzed at 500°C. The increasing percentage of biochar increases water permeability. Inversely, the increase in biochar percentage reduces the compressive strength. The results show that B20% which consists of 20% biochar is adequate to be utilized as a grade B paving block based on the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) 03-0691-1996. At B20%, the compression strength is 24.7 MPa and the water permeability is 6%.

This study reports the usage of chemically impregnated coconut coir waste (CICCW) as a low-cost adsorbent for the desulfurization of feed diesel. The characterization of the developed adsorbent was focused on quantitative analysis (carbon yield %, proximate, ultimate, carbon surface functionalities, BET surface area and porosity distribution, and particle size analysis), qualitative analysis (FTIR), and optical analysis (SEM). Batch experiments with feed diesel having a total sulfur concentration of 2,050 mg L-1 were conducted to optimize the adsorption parameters such as adsorbent dose, temperature, and contact time. The adsorption process shows an optimum dose of 1 g/20 mL, and the equilibrium is attained in 3 h. The adsorption of sulfur onto the adsorbent at optimum temperature 293 K is regulated by external mass transfer (diffusion into mesopores) followed by a steady adsorption phase with intra-particle diffusion in micropores. A Fickian mechanism controls the diffusion of sulfur molecules from the solution onto the surface of the adsorbent. Freundlich adsorption isotherm illustrates the equilibrium adsorption data very well. The negative value of ΔGo (-27.61 kJ mol-1) and ΔSo (-44.56 J K-1 mol-1) indicates the feasibility, spontaneity of the adsorption process and justified the decrease in the randomness of adsorbed sulfur molecules onto the adsorbent surface, respectively. The exhausted CICCW can be effectively regenerated by methanol and reutilized for three adsorption–desorption cycles. The approximate cost of preparation of the adsorbent was USD 10.714 per kg. These results clearly proved the feasibility of the developed low-cost adsorbent (CICCW) as a good candidate for the desulfurization of feed diesel.