Valorizing papaya seed waste for wastewater treatment: a review.

Abstract

The use of papaya seed as a precursor material for the production of adsorbents and coagulants, and their applications in wastewater treatment processes to remove pollutants, such as heavy metals, dyes and microorganisms, are reviewed in this manuscript. Recent studies have shown that adsorbents derived from papaya seed can be used to replace high-cost adsorbents as low-cost alternatives. The raw papaya seed biomass can be chemically modified to alter its surface functional group to improve the adsorption efficiency. In this work, the adsorption isotherms correlated with heavy metal and dye adsorption onto papaya seed adsorbent are discussed. The remarkable performance of papaya seed natural coagulant in removing turbidity and dye in the coagulation and flocculation process is also presented. The development of a highly efficient adsorbent and coagulant using papaya seed remains a critical field area of ongoing research. This review sheds light on the recent development of various feasible approaches for incorporating papaya seed into various wastewater treatment processes, thereby transforming it into a value-added product.