The anaerobic codigestion of olive mill wastewater (OMWW) and poultry manure (PM) was investigated in order to determine the appropriate mixture ratio with a focus on total and OMWW organic load contribution. Codigestion was first explored through batch tests using a combination of four PM dry basis ratios (1 to 4%) and four volumetric OMWW ratios (0 to 15%). Thereafter, codigestion was attempted at semi-continuous mode, at batch identified appropriate PM ratio, using a gradual OMWW increase up to 20%. Results showed that the maximum BMP was recorded with PM monodigestion with biogas peak of 410.48 mL/gVS at 5.38 gVS/L. Under the semi-continuous conditions, increasing OMWW fed ratio improved biogas yield up to total feed of 1.57 gVS/L.d achieving a maximum production of 215.85 +/- 23.56 mL/gVS.d. The codigestion of OMWW and PM was possible up to a critical OMWW VS contribution of 40% to 50%.

Le procédé de production du paprika à partir de la Niora (Capsicum annuum L.) au Maroc consiste essentiellement en une récolte manuelle des fruits en pleine maturité, en un séchage traditionnel au soleil et en un broyage dans des unités de transformation traditionnelles et se termine par un huilage (l’enlèvement du pédoncule est facultatif). Les détails concernant les opérations de transformation sont rapportés. Dans un deuxième volet une étude comparative de la qualité du paprika provenant de trois régions productrices de l’épice au Maroc a été abordée à travers l’analyse de leurs paramètres physico-chimiques et nutritionnels, de leur composition en métabolites secondaires et de leur pouvoir antioxydant. Les paprikas des 3 provenances ont montré des valeurs d’ASTA qui variaient de 104 à144 Unités. Les principaux acides gras composant le paprika sont l'acide linoléique, l'acide palmitique et l’acide oléique. En matière de composition minérale, les paprikas issus des 3 régions sont riches en potassium, en magnésium et relativement pauvre en sodium. Le paprika d’El Kalâa des Sraghna a montré les valeurs les plus élevées en capsaicinoïdes totaux (184,97 mg/kg PS). Les meilleures capacités antioxydantes ont été obtenues par le paprika du Tadla (IC50 de 260 µg/ml pour le test de DPPH et de 43,03 µg/ml pour le test d’ABTS).

The present study focuses on fresh leachates treatment using anaerobic digestion. To overcome the unsuitable raw characteristics, appropriate pretreatment conditions were identified based on Batch tests. A subsequently optimized pretreatment-anaerobic two stages UASB coupled treatment was studied. The performance of the overall coupled treatment was assessed by monitoring volatile fatty acids (VFA), COD and ammonium removal, and biogas performance. Results showed that combining acidity correction to short aeration gives a synergetic effect and allowed appropriate anaerobic start-up conditions. Under continuous aerobic pretreatment-UASB digestion, significant removal of NH+4 (75.87%), COD (19.14%), and VFA (20.3%) were achieved during the aeration step resulting in the total abatement of 88.66%, 83.6% and 70.39% for NH+4, COD, and VFA, respectively. The process allowed good biogas performance up to 2,470 mL biogas/L and 123 mL CH4/gCOD removed, with gradual improvement from the first to the second UASB reactor. Inlet COD and VFA feeding rate seemed to be the main key parameters with 45.37 g COD/L.d and 18.43 g VFA/L.d as a critical threshold. Therefore, the anaerobic digestion of high COD leachates is highly feasible and the aerobic–anaerobic coupled treatment is a promising technical scenario that deserves further studies.

The Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) of fresh leachate and domestic wastewaters codigestion was determined by laboratory Bach Tests at 35 degrees C over a period of 90 d using a wide range of leachates volumetric ratios from 0% to 100%. To simulate wastewaters plant treatment step, all the ratios were first air stripped for 48 h before anaerobic incubation. The kinetic of biogas production was assessed using modified Gompertz model and exponential equation. The results obtained showed that cumulative biogas production was insignificant in the case of wastewaters monodigestion while the codigestion significantly improves the BMP. Air stripping pretreatment had positive effect on both ammonium concentration and volatiles fatty acids with reduction up to 75% and 42%, respectively. According to the Modified Gompertz model, the optimal anaerobic co-digestion conditions both in terms of maximal biogas potential, start-up period and maximum daily biogas production rate, could be achieved within large leachate volumetric ratios from 25% to 75% with a maximum BMP value of 438.42 mL/g volatile solid at 50% leachate ratio. The positive effect of codigestion was attributed to a dilution effect of chemical oxygen demand and volatile fatty acid concentrations to optimal range that was between 11.7 to 32.3 gO(2)/L and 2.1 to 7.4 g/L, respectively. These results suggested that the treatment of fresh leachate by their dilution and co digestion at wastewaters treatment plants could be a promising alternative for both energetic and treatment purposes.

The aim of this study was to characterize the bioactive constituents and to evaluate the antioxidant activity of five pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivars.Phenols, flavonoids, flavonols and ascorbic acid were quantified in the pericarp of the peppers studied.The antioxidant activity of their extracts was evaluated by the method of radical scavenging of DPPH•.The solvents used for the extraction of these metabolites are water, methanol and ethanol at 75%.Preliminary results have shown that the composition of the peppers in bioactive elements varies depending on the type pepper and the solvent extract.The hot and sweet red pepper showed high vitamin C content (respectively 34.49 and 33.4 mg / 100 g FW) followed by hot green pepper, sweet green pepper and yellow pepper.It was also found that capsaicin vary significantly (P<0.005)among peppers studied.Capsaicin contents ranged from 6, 78 to 32, 50 mg/100 FW.The maximum capsaicin content was noticed in hot green and hot red peppers.The highest contents of phenolic compounds, flavonols and flavonoids were in sweet and hot red peppers.The highest radical scavenging activity (IC50) was observed in red and yellow peppers for ethanolic and methanolic extracts.

This paper introduces an optimized evaporation technique for leachate treatment. For this purpose and in order to study the feasibility and measure the effectiveness of the forced evaporation, three cuboidal steel tubs were designed and implemented. The first control-tub was installed at the ground level to monitor natural evaporation. Similarly, the second and the third tub, models under investigation, were installed respectively at the ground level (equipped-tub 1) and out of the ground level (equipped-tub 2), and provided with special equipment to accelerate the evaporation process. The obtained results showed that the evaporation rate at the equipped-tubs was much accelerated with respect to the control-tub. It was accelerated five times in the winter period, where the evaporation rate was increased from a value of 0.37 mm/day to reach a value of 1.50 mm/day. In the summer period, the evaporation rate was accelerated more than three times and it increased from a value of 3.06 mm/day to reach a value of 10.25 mm/day. Overall, the optimized evaporation technique can be applied effectively either under electric or solar energy supply, and will accelerate the evaporation rate from three to five times whatever the season temperature.

Garlic (Alliym sativum) is a good source of total polyphenols content. These compounds reveal activity effectiveness not less than synthetics. The aim of current research is to study and compare an antiradical activity, phenolic, flavonoid and flavonol contents of garlic of five areas in Morocco. Those contents were determined using spectrophotometric method. Antioxidant activities were studied using two methods: DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity. On the basis of findings it turned out that total polyphenolic compounds and antioxidant activities varied from one area to another. Moreover, ABTS radical scavenging activity demonstrated better results compared to DPPH method and the results showed, in general, a good correlation could be found between antioxidant activity and polyphenolic compounds. Keywords : Garlic, Allium sativum, polyphenol compounds, antioxidant activity.

Seven Moroccan carob provenances (Taroudant, Agadir, Essaouira, Marrakesh, Beni Mellal, Taza and Al Houceima were analysed for proximate (Dry matter, ash, total sugars, protein and fat) as well as for polyphenol and composition mineral. The average proximate composition range of raw carob pulp was: 86.53 –87.84% dry matter; 3.10 – 4.50% protein; 31.50 – 50.10% total sugar; 11.30 – 14.60% sugar reducing; carbohydrates; 40.69 – 54.74% sugars; 0.50 – 0.80% fat and 2.05 – 4.60 mg/g polyphenols. All samples contained all nine minerals analyzed for, in this study. Slight compositional variations (although statistically significant) were found among samples. The results obtained in this study suggest that the pulp of carob is highly nutritious and thus carob can be considered as an alternative food source for Morocco.

The aim of our work is the development of an evaporation technique for the treatment of leachate from household waste in the city of Kasba Tadla to avoid rejection permanently in nature. taking into account the characteristics of the selected site which has a warm climate with temperatures that exceed 50 °C during the summer period we favored a forced evaporation processing mode. several models have been tested, the alternatives given on the position of the evaporation pans relative to the ground, coverage evaporation pans by glass plates and their angle of inclination and the presence or absence of systems agitation and ventilation. The tests were used to develop a final evaporation model forced with glass plates inclined with a stirring system of leachate. forced evaporation of leachate testing have helped reduce the time of evaporation of leachate by 50% approximately relative to natural evaporation and 30% compared to evaporation with plates of horizontal glass. the power evaporating of this technique from a value of 0,37 mm/day to reach a value of 1,5 mm/day during the winter period. the model developed shows evaporation performance and effectiveness for the treatment of leachate so it stands out as alterative techniques for the treatment of leachate. L’objectif de ce travail est le développement d’une technique d’évaporation pour le traitement des lixiviats de la décharge de la ville de Kasba Tadla au Maroc. du fait des caractéristiques du site qui présente un climat chaud avec des températures qui dépassent 50 °c pendant la période d’été, un mode de traitement par évaporation forcée a été étudié. les paramètres étudies sont la position des bacs d’évaporation par rapport au sol, la couverture des bacs d’évaporation à l’aide de plaques vitrées, l’angle d’inclinaison des plaques et la présence ou non des systèmes d’agitation et de ventilation. les essais ont permis de sélectionner un modelé d’évaporation forcée avec des plaques inclinées et un système d’agitation du lixiviat. le système d’évaporation forcée développe a permis de réduire le temps d’évaporation des lixiviats d’environ 50 % par rapport à une évaporation naturelle et de 30 % par rapport à une évaporation avec des plaques horizontales. il a également permis d’augmenter la vitesse d’évaporation de 0,37 mm/j à 1,5 mm/j pendant la période hivernale. les performances d’évaporation obtenues permettent ainsi de valider le système comme technique altérative pour le traitement des lixiviats.

In recent years, many designs have been developed for the anaerobic treatment of leachate. The UASB (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket) is currently the most recent process used for the treatment of these discharges in Morocco, it is a treatment system known by low sludge production and a high methanogenic activity.This work aims is to present the importance of leachate treatment of household waste from the town of Kasba Tadla in Morocco By a process of UASB.Our team is interested in studying how management and recovery of household waste in the city of Kasba Tadla in Morocco. We have shown on one hand the evolution of the tonnage of household waste in the period between 2014 and 2016, as the importance of screening and also determine the evolution of the quantities of leachate produced daily basis for four months, of January to the month of April 2015 and the characteristics of these liquid discharges and their impact on the environment and thought processing techniques.The results obtained in this study show that the production of household and similar waste of around 11849 tonnes in the year 2014, and 0.27 tonnes / capita / year. These wastes are essentially of the organic material (74%), paper (3%), plastics (9%) of metal (1%) and glass (0.5%). The quantities of leachate produced monthly at the city range from a maximum of a maximum average daily volume of 2320 liters per day during the month of April 2015, and a minimum average daily volume of 1028 liters per day during the month January 2015 with a monthly average of about 46,656 liters per month. The physicochemical analysis of leachate from the region shows a high concentration of organic matter, COD is about 12240 mg O2 / l and high acidity (pH = 5.16), hence the importance of treatment these effluents through effective and adaptable technology to weather the study area namely the UASB technology before the direct discharge into the environment. Leachate treatment by the UASB technology has allowed us to have an allowance of 93% of COD and pH shift to neutral (pH = 6.9).In conclusion, the results show the success of the leachate treatment UASB technique in the study area, especially that this technique is already proposed by the urban municipality for the treatment of wastewater.

L’objectif de notre travail est de presenter les caracteristiques physico-chimiques des lixiviats frais des dechets menagers a l’entree de la decharge de la ville de Kasba Tadla au Maroc et realiser des essais de traitement par la Technique de UASB (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket). Les resultats obtenus durant cette etude montrent que la production des dechets menagers et assimiles est de l’ordre de 11 787 tonnes durant l’annee 2013, soit 0.27 tonne/hab/an. Ces dechets sont constitues essentiellement de matiere organique putrescible (74 %), de papier (3 %), plastique (9 %), metal (1 %) et verre (0,5 %). Les quantites de lixiviats produites mensuellement varient entre un maximum de pres de 131 m3 en Aout 2013 et un minimum de moins de 22 m3 en Decembre 2013, la moyenne mensuelle etant de l’ordre de 79 m3 par mois. L’analyse physico-chimique des lixiviats de la zone d’etude montre une tres forte charge organique (DCO de l’ordre de 26 700 mgO2/L), et une forte acidite pH = 4,49. Le traitement de ces effluents par une technique efficace et adaptee aux conditions climatiques de la zone d’etude est donc imperatif avant rejet dans l’environnement. La technique etudiee ici est un traitement biologique anaerobie par UASB Technique (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket). Les travaux realises ont permis d’atteindre un abattement de 94 % de DCO et une neutralisation du lixiviat (pH = 6,87). Les resultats obtenus confirment donc que la technique de traitement par UASB est adaptee aux lixiviats fortement charges.

This study aims to characterize solid household waste and to present physicochemical characteristics of fresh leachate before landfilling in Kasba Tadla city, Morocco. Obtained results show that household waste produced in 2013 were about 11,787 tons, or 0.27 tons/capita/year. These wastes were composed essentially of organic materials (74%), paper (8%), plastics (9%), metals (1%), and glass (0.5%). However, monthly produced leachate ranges from a maximum of 130.92 m(3) during summer and a minimum of 21.88 m(3) in winter. Moreover, leachate treatment using Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket technique was accompanied by a decrease in electrical conductivity, certainly related to leachate-sediment chemical exchanges. Otherwise, the same acidity reduction phenomenon occurs when pH value increased from 4.49 to 6.17 after 24 hours, confirming the system response since the early stages of treatment. In addition, temporal evolution of the treatment efficiency in terms of COD highlighted a very important reduction which reached 94% after 5 days with an average temperature of 25 degrees C.

The cactus prickly pears rich in micronutrients, has recently generated a great deal of consumer interest, therefore, this paper was designed to study its physical and chemical compositions such as: moisture, sugar content, total fibres, protein, ash, pH, acidity, minerals contents and total phenolics contents of nine prickly pear juices. Polyphenols are antioxidants who contribute to the nutritional prickly pears quality and of their products of transformation.

In the present study the total phenols, flavonoids, flavonols, carotenoids content and ASTA of extracts of paprika powder produced at four periods of harvesting and processing were investigated for their antioxidant activity. A different composition between the four periods was evidenced. Paprika produced in November presented a major content of phenols, carotenoids, and ASTA (1360 mg/100g DW, 3727.54 mg/kg DW, 167.15 unit) respectively. Also it showed the highest radical scavenging activity in DPPH assay (IC50 of 260?g/ml). Total flavonol and total flavonoid contents show a little variation depending on the time of harvesting and processing. The total phenolic and carotenoid contents were highly correlated with DPPH values (R2= 0.95 and R2= 0.96) respectively. Therefore, the total phenolic and carotenoid contents can serve as a useful indicator for the antioxidant activity of paprika. The obtained results suggest that Moroccan paprika could be used as valuable flavor with functional properties for foods. Keywords: Niora, ground paprika, ASTA , carotenoids, phenolics, flavonoids, flavonols, antioxidant activity.

The carob product most widely used, especially for the food industry, is the carob bean gum (CBG), or locust bean gum (LBG). This gum comes from the endosperm of the seed and chemically is a polysaccharide, a galactomannan. It is used as thickener, stabilizer, emulsifier and gelling agent. This study was carried out to determine and to compare the characteristics of LBG in terms of yield, moisture and ash content and protein content. Samples were collected from different regions in the agro-forestry system of Morocco. The results showed that the Moroccan cultivars are characterized by a high yield of seeds that provide a high yield of endosperm. The purified CBG from different population of Moroccan carob tree had 60.63-72.49% yield, 6.36- 8.63% moisture, 0.36-0.99% ash and 0.52-0.62% protein. The protein, moisture and ash, and the yields of purified locust bean gum are comparable to those reported in the literature from other countries. seeds) respectively are Spain (36%, 28%), Morocco (24%, 38%), Italy (10%, 8%), Portugal (10%, 8%), Greece (8%, 6%), Turkey (4%, 6%) and Cyprus (3%, 2%) (3). The carob distribution in Morocco is centred in the north selvage of the Atlas chain, the Rif Mountain and in some valleys of the South-West of the Anti-Atlas confined to arid and semi-arid bioclimates with an extension to sub-humid bioclimate in some stands (4). Chemical composition of the carob pod depends on cultivar, origin and harvesting time (5). The two main carob pod constituents are pulp (90%) and seeds (10%) by weight (6). Carob pulp is high (48-56%) in total sugar content that include mainly sucrose, glucose, fructose and maltose. In addition it contains about 18% cellulose and hemicelluloses, (3-4%) protein and (0.4-0.8%) lipids (7). Also, ripe carob pods contain a large amount of condensed tannins (16-20%, d.b.). The pulp of carob pods is used extensively as a raw material for the production of syrups (8,9) and crystallized sucrose for the food industry. On the other hand, carob seed constituents are seed coat (23-33%), endosperm (42-56%) and embryo (20-25%) by weight (10). Nowadays, carob is exploited prevalently for the industrial transformation of the seeds, for obtaining flour called carob bean gum (CBG), used as thickening agent in food preparations (7). The European Codex classifies CBG as a fully accepted food additive for human use (E 410). Carob bean gum (CBG), is the refined endosperm of the seed of the carob pods (Ceratonia siliqua) by extraction of the seeds with water or aqueous alkaline solutions. The extraction of the gum from the seeds is a slow, difficult process, due principally to the hardness of the seed coat. Different mechanical, physical and chemical methods have been studied for the removal of the seed coat and for separating the coat, the endosperm (gum) and the cotyledons (11, 12). CBG is a galactomannan composed of a linear chain 1→4 linked β-D- mannopyranosyl units, with α-D-galactopyranosyl residues 1→6 joined as irregularly spaced side chain (13).

Analysed quality parameters of paprika powder ( Capsicum annuum L.) collected from three localities in Morocco (Tadla, Gharb and Elkalaa des Sraghna) were color, total capsaicinoids, total carotenoid, fat content and fatty acid composition. The oil contents of paprika powder collected from the three localities varied relatively from 7.55g to 8.67 g/100 g. The main fatty acids among the different paprika oils were linoleic acid (60.1–70.9%), oleic acid (12.1–16.1%) and palmitic acid (7.7-14.5%). Remarkable amounts of capsaicinoids were found in the different locations, with a maximum obtained for Elkalaa des Sraghna paprika (184.97mg/kg). Total carotenoid content values averaged from 2323.66 to 3025.05 mg/kg dw with the high content obtained for the Tadla paprika. The ASTA Values differ significantly between the three localities; the high value of ASTA 20 was obtained for Tadla paprika. The present study showed that the different paprika powders are a potential source of valuable oil and Color that could be used for edible and industrial applications. Keywords : Capsicum annuum L., Paprika, Oil, Fatty acid, Capsaicinoids, Total carotenoid, ASTA, Color.

Rheological properties of prickly pear juice fruit of cactus ( Opuntia ficus indica ) and impacts of temperature, shearing rate and pH value on its viscosity were studied using a rotational concentric cylinders viscometer. The results show that the viscosity of prickly pear juice decreases with the increase of its temperature and shearing rate. The solution presents pseudo-plasticity fluid, which shows the characters of shear thinning as follows: first, its viscosity decreases gradually as the temperature increases. The viscosity decreases sharply at both acid and alkaline conditions, indicating that it is influenced apparently by pH value. Keywords : Prickly Pear, Juice, temperature, shearing rate, pH, Viscosity

Juices of nine prickly pears cultivars (Opuntia ficus-indica L.) were characterized in terms of phenolics and betalains pigment content. The antioxidant activity of juice was tested by means of two different methods : the 2,2-diphenyl-1 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) methods, and the 2,2- azinobis(3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) methods. Juices contained total phenolics ranging from 354.37 to 643.66 μg gallic acid eq/g, betaxanthins (15.84 to 51.33 mg indicaxanthin/l), betacyanins (...)

Experimental design was used to investigate the effect of three parameters (extraction temperature, extraction time and ratio of water to pulp) on syrups yields. The ranges of the factors investigated were 20-45°C for extraction temperature (X1), 1-3h for extraction time (X2) and 1-3 for extraction ratio of water to pulp (X3). The extracting parameters for syrups yields were optimized by using three-factor-three-level Box Behnken design (BBD) and response surface methodology based on the single-factor experiments. As results, the optimum conditions were extracting temperature 43.45°C, extracting time 2.40 h and the ratio of extraction solvent (water) to pulp (v/w) 2.27. Under these conditions, the experimental values were in close agreement with values predicted by the model and for wish. Predicted yield of syrup extracted is 39.51 %. Keywords : Carob pods; pulp; Syrup yield; Optimization experiment; Box Behnken design.

"La Niora" is a red pepper variety cultivated in Tadla Region (Morocco) which is used for manufacturing paprika after sun drying. The paprika quality (nutritional, chemical and microbiological) was evaluated immediately after milling, from September to December. Sampling time mainly affected paprika color and the total capsaicinoid and vitamin C contents. The commercial quality was acceptable and no aflatoxins were found, but the microbial load sometimes exceeded permitted levels.