Abstract

Generation of waste from the agro-processing industry is continually increasing due to increasing needs for food security. Beneficiation of this waste has both economic and environmental impacts that can be overcome via implementation of cleaner production technologies. Starch is a renewable biopolymer material which is completely biodegradable, easy to handle and widely available in nature. It has wide applications in various industries including food processing, pharmaceutical, confection, beverage, pulp and paper, chemical, cosmetic, binder and adhesive, packaging and printing, fermentation and textile industries. We have previously demonstrated that high-quality industrial-grade starch can be extracted from waste avocado seeds. This report is focussed on a techno-economic evaluation of the extraction process. It can be concluded, from the study that extraction of starch from waste avocado seeds is economically feasible with an accounting rate of return of 75% and a break-even analysis of 82% with a payback period of 2 years. The process is environmentally sustainable in that minimal amounts of chemicals are used in the extraction process and the wastes generated can be beneficiated into high-value products that can add further to the profitability of the venture.

Graphic abstract

中文翻译：

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从鳄梨废种子中提取淀粉的工艺的技术经济可行性

摘要

由于对粮食安全的需求不断增加，农业加工业产生的废物不断增加。废物的选矿对经济和环境都有影响，可以通过实施清洁生产技术来克服。淀粉是一种可再生的生物聚合物材料，可完全生物降解，易于处理并且在自然界中广泛使用。它在食品加工，制药，糖果，饮料，纸浆和造纸，化学，化妆品，粘合剂和粘合剂，包装和印刷，发酵和纺织工业等各个行业中都有广泛的应用。先前我们已经证明，可以从鳄梨废料中提取高质量的工业级淀粉。该报告的重点是提取过程的技术经济评估。可以得出结论，该研究表明，从废弃鳄梨种子中提取淀粉在经济上是可行的，回报率为75％，收支平衡分析为82％，投资回收期为2年。该过程在环境方面是可持续的，因为在提取过程中使用的化学药品量最少，并且产生的废物可以被选为高价值产品，可以进一步增加企业的盈利能力。

图形摘要