Mucilaginous seed of Ocimum basilicum as a natural coagulant for textile wastewater treatment

• Ocimum basilicum was introduced as a natural coagulant for wastewater treatment.
• A low amount of coagulant has the ability to decolorize a dye-containing solution.
• The coagulant was highly effective in treating real textile wastewater.
• Effects of pH, dye and coagulant concentrations on the color removal were studied.

In this study, Ocimum basilicum L. (basil) has been evaluated as an active natural coagulant for the removal of dye from a model textile wastewater containing congo red. The effect of three parameters including pH, coagulant dose and dye concentration on the color removal and COD reduction were analyzed. A cubic equation could model the color removal process with a R2 of 0.89. The dye concentration was found to be the most significant parameter affecting the color removal. A high color (68.5%) and COD (61.6%) removal efficiency was obtained by using a low amount of the coagulant, 1.6 mg/L. The mucilage of O. basilicum was also found to be highly effective in treating real textile wastewater as a sole coagulant and in combination with alum.

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