Synthesis and characterization of carboxymethyl cellulose from pineapple core

Abstract

Pineapple core is one of waste left over after pineapple processing. It could be increased value by maximally utilizing certain composition. Cellulose, an abundant compound in pineapple core, could be extracted and purified by removing lignin and hemicellulose. Moreover, it could be converted into carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) for wide application. The objective of this research was to synthesize the CMC extracted from pineapple core (P-CMC). This process provided P-CMC with the purity of 95.86% at the processing yield about 89.78%. The degree of substitution was 0.83, which is commercially acceptable. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed the chemical structure of the synthesized P-CMC. Observation of the IR spectra, peak at a wave number of 1588 cm-1, exhibited the presence of a carboxyl group (COO-) in the P-CMC. The moisture content, water activity, viscosity, and solubility, which is similar to commercial CMC. The color of P-CMC was yellow but commercial CMC was white, which depended on the color of raw material. This suggested the similarity carboxymethyl substitution comparable to that of commercial CMC. The P-CMC expressed high potential for commercial production.

Keywords

• carboxymethyl cellulose
• cellulose
• degree of substitution
• pineapple core
• purity