ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION AND HEAVY METAL IN PALM RESIDUES IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON

Abstract

Background. The Peruvian Amazon has an area of 74,739 ha oil palm in 2019, which during the palm oil extraction process generates large amounts of solid agro-industrial waste (Empty Fruit Bunch [EFB] and Oil palm fiber [OPF]) which, due to not having proper management and being exposed to open sky is the cause of atmospheric, hydrological and terrestrial pollution. This problem could be seen as an opportunity to exploit agricultural soils. Objective. Determine the elemental composition and heavy metal content of the EFB and OPF in palm residues of the Peruvian Amazon. Methodology. The population was made up of 19.39 t day-1 of EFB and 12.48 t day-1 of OPF from the fruit extracted from the INDOLMA SA industry, district of Neshuya, Peru. The analyzes were carried out by UV-VIS spectrophotometry for P and K; Kjeldahl method for N; for humidity, the humidity balance - PCE Iberian was used and the potentiometer for the measurement of pH and the Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) for heavy metals Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, As and Hg. Results. The concentrations of the elemental content (NPK) did not present statistically significant differences between the variables, while the heavy metals in Cd, Ni, Cr and Pb in EFB were higher than that found for the OPF. However, it was the opposite with As, showing significant differences, while the presence of Hg was below the detection limits. Implications. Knowing the nutritional and heavy metal characteristics has the function that new sustainable technologies can be proposed using this raw material of organic origin that are adapted to the quality of its properties. Conclusions. The values indicate the good performance of the elemental content in the EFB and OPF, but the presence of heavy metals, especially Cd and Ni, is high in the studied residues.