{"id":9409,"date":"2019-05-03T11:08:58","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T17:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/?p=9409"},"modified":"2020-07-31T10:33:54","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T16:33:54","slug":"spectrophotometer-swamp-plant-agro-waste-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coleparmer.com\/blog\/spectrophotometer-swamp-plant-agro-waste-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Cole-Parmer in Research: Spectrophotometer Used in Tropical Swamp Plant Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who would know there\u2019s a link between carnivorous plant Nepenthes mirabilis and agro-waste?<\/h2>\n
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  1. mirabilis<\/em> is a fast-growing tropical swamp pitcher plant, otherwise known as a monkey cup. Nepenthes<\/em> species feed on animals from insects to rats! They can utilise this food source because their acidic digestive juices. Interestingly, these juices include enzymes. capable of degrading chitin, proteins, starch, cellulose, lignin and xylan.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Recently, Anagadam et al. (2019) investigated<\/a> this particular plant species as a source of digestive juices for use in the conversion of holocellulose into biomass. They were particularly interested in the sustainable management of grape pomace, an agro-waste consisting of the solid remains of the fruit after pressing, which if left untreated can lead to phenolics, harmful chemical residues, and toxic substances leaching into the surrounding environment. Furthermore, the biodegradation of holocellulosic materials can yield by-products that are useful elsewhere as biomass. As the authors suggest there are various methods of achieving this however, they were interested in developing a process that could be undertaken in a single reaction vessel.<\/p>\n

    Key objectives<\/h2>\n

    In order to fully investigate the use of N. mirabilis<\/em> in this manner, Anagadam et al<\/em>. defined key objectives that quantified the chemical characteristics of the grape pomace prior to and post treatment, as well as defining the biocatalytic activities of N. mirabilis. Jenway\u00ae spectrophotometers were utilised during these investigations. These spectrophotometers are designed to suit a range of applications, are easy-to-use, and provide robust and reliable data analysis. Anagadam et al<\/em>. used Jenway spectrophotometers for the following:<\/p>\n