An assessment of the use of native and denatured forms of okra seed proteins as coagulants in drinking water treatment

The effects of temperature, storage time and water pH on the coagulation performance of okra seed protein in water treatment were assessed. In a jar test experiment, okra salt extract achieved a notable improvement in treatment efficiency with storage time and showed good performance in quality after thermal treatment at 60, 97 and 140 °C temperatures for 6, 4 and 2 hours, respectively. The performance improvement of more than 8% is considered to be due to the denaturation and subsequent removal of coagulation-hindering proteins in okra seed. Furthermore, the results of a sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis show two distinctive bands of protein responsible for the coagulation process after denaturation. It was further shown that at optimal coagulant dose, the pH of the treated water remained unaffected as a result of the protein's buffering capability during coagulation. Therefore, denatured okra seed exhibited improved performance compared to the native crude extract and offers clear benefits as a water treatment coagulant.