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A techno-economic feasibility of a process for extraction of starch from waste avocado seeds

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Abstract

Generation of waste from the agro-processing industry is continually increasing due to increasing needs for food security. Beneficiation of this waste has both economic and environmental impacts that can be overcome via implementation of cleaner production technologies. Starch is a renewable biopolymer material which is completely biodegradable, easy to handle and widely available in nature. It has wide applications in various industries including food processing, pharmaceutical, confection, beverage, pulp and paper, chemical, cosmetic, binder and adhesive, packaging and printing, fermentation and textile industries. We have previously demonstrated that high-quality industrial-grade starch can be extracted from waste avocado seeds. This report is focussed on a techno-economic evaluation of the extraction process. It can be concluded, from the study that extraction of starch from waste avocado seeds is economically feasible with an accounting rate of return of 75% and a break-even analysis of 82% with a payback period of 2 years. The process is environmentally sustainable in that minimal amounts of chemicals are used in the extraction process and the wastes generated can be beneficiated into high-value products that can add further to the profitability of the venture.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the Higher Education and TVET program Ethiopia-Phase 3, PE479-Higher Education, KFW project No. 51235 and BMZ No. 201166305 for financial support of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ethiopian Institute of Textile and Fashion Technology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

    Tamrat Tesfaye, Million Ayele & Eyasu Ferede

  2. State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Magdi Gibril & Fangong Kong

  3. Discipline of Chemical Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Bruce Sithole

  4. Biorefinery Industry Development Facility, Chemicals Cluster Programme, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Durban, South Africa

    Bruce Sithole

Authors
  1. Tamrat Tesfaye
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  2. Million Ayele
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  3. Eyasu Ferede
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  4. Magdi Gibril
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  5. Fangong Kong
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  6. Bruce Sithole
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Contributions

TT was involved in the conceptualization, writing—original draft preparation; MA was involved in the conceptualization, methodology and supply and demand analysis; EF was involved in the writing, experimental and technoeconomic analysis; MG was involved in supply and demand analysis, supervision and life cycle assessment; FK was involved in the supply and demand analysis, supervision and life cycle assessment; BS was involved in writing—reviewing and editing.

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Correspondence to Tamrat Tesfaye.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Tesfaye, T., Ayele, M., Ferede, E. et al. A techno-economic feasibility of a process for extraction of starch from waste avocado seeds. Clean Techn Environ Policy 23, 581–595 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-020-01981-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-020-01981-1

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