Hydroalcoholic extract of Citrus sinensis peel and Pinus patula oil, a bioremediation alternative

Abstract

The objective of the research was the evaluation of the hydroalcoholic extract of Citrus sinensis (ECN) peels and Pinus patula oil (ADP) as a bioremediation alternative, in a sand contaminated with diesel fuel. A sand was contaminated with diesel fuel in a proportion of 100 mL/kg and the products were treated in doses of 50 and 100 mL/kg of contaminated sand, to then monitor the amount of hexane extractables (HEM) every 15 to 60 days. The design was a random block factorial, with a sample, a response variable (HEM), three factors (remediator, dose and time) and three replicates per block. ANOVA and Tukey's test were used to establish the influence of experimental factors on the response variable. It was obtained that the ECN treatment achieved a maximum remediation efficiency of 92.07% and for ADP the efficiency was 87.88%, both surpassing the natural attenuation efficiency that was 64.72%. It is highlighted that treating hydrocarbon-contaminated sand with ECN and ADP produces a greater remediation efficiency compared to natural attenuation and the difference between both treatments was not statistically significant with a confidence level of 95%.

Keywords

• citrus sinensis
• hydrocarbons
• environmental impact
• oil
• pinus patula
• pollution
• natural attenuation
• remediation
• soil.