Ahmed Bendaoud

Forestry residues (FR) and medicinal-aromatic plant waste (MAPW) are considered potential resources for energy recovery. In this context, we explore the bioethanol production potential of three microbial strains Aspergillus niger, Zymomonas mobilis, and Trichoderma longibrachiatum using this...

Water is a basic human requirement that is required in many processes, particularly those performed in households. However, in most circumstances, this critical product does not fulfill commonly recognized safety criteria. Various anthropogenic activities cause various forms of pollution; as a...

The eventual polluting of the Ouichane region's groundwater by heavy metals around an abandoned iron mine was investigated. To reach this aim, the research began with a questionnaire survey to assess local people's use of and appreciation for well and spring water, followed by measurement of...

Forestry waste (FW) extracted parts of medicinal-aromatic plant waste (EPW) and unused parts (UPW) are considered potential resources for energy recovery (their heating value of approximately 19 MJ/kg). In order to valorize lignocellulosic biomass, a pretreatment process is required to hydrolyze...

Agroecosystems are becoming more developed in Morocco, which requires conducting research about their importance to indigenous avifauna. We studied the influence of seasonality and parcel characteristics, including habitat type and anthropogenic pressures on bird diversity in vineyards. Our findings show that bird diversity varies by habitat type with heterogeneous parcels being more diverse than homogeneous parcels; in addition to that, bird diversity was higher in edge habitat, olive and uncultivated land while it was lower in vine habitat, whereas the cereal was the poorest habitat in the vineyards. Our results revealed that avian diversity changes with the seasons, being higher in winter, autumn and spring than in the summer. Evaluation of anthropogenic pressures indicates that avifauna diversity was negatively associated with the distance to the nearest building and the nearest edge, but positively associated with the distance to the nearest water source. Our research identifies potentially important variables influencing bird diversity in these agricultural ecosystems, which can help us to understand more clearly the ecological needs of birds of this habitat. As a result, we make some recommendations to help preserve bird diversity and improve their survival, including securing and protecting edge habitat, boosting habitat diversity and contributing to the overall effort to reduce climate change impacts, all of which will not be possible without the cooperation of landowners, farmers, managers and researchers.

Context: The region of Fez-Meknes has a wide variety of aromatic and medicinal plants that can be explored in different ways to draw their virtues and overcome human health problems. Aims: To identify ethnobotanically the main medicinal plants and collect data about their uses in the region of Fez. Methods: During each interview, both the personal information and the plants used were collected. The questionnaire revealed the use frequency of each part of the plants (VPP). It also sheds light on the importance of each species (RFC). Furthermore, it showed the relative importance of the families and the method of preparation (FIV). Results: The results disclosed the richness of the region in terms of medicinal plants. A total of 57 species were identified and grouped into 24 families. The most abundant families were Lamiaceae (FIV = 5.461), Compositae (FIV= 6.085), and Apiaceae (FIV = 6.307). The most cited species were Plantago major L. (RFC = 27.3%), Olea europaea L. (RFC = 31.3 %), and Daphne gnidium L. (RFC = 32.6%). The leaves are the most plant part used (VPP = 0.416). The most used preparation method was decoction (32%). The most declared pathologies were digestive (16%), dermatological (15%), and respiratory affections (13%). Conclusions: The ethnobotanical study showed the region's floristic richness and allowed the identification of the different plants involved in many recipes to overcome human health problems.

Similar to countries with arid and semi-arid climates, Morocco faces problems of degradation of the quality of its environment and more specifically the quality of groundwater. In this work, we approached the physico-chemical characterization of the raw effluents of three industrial units of the...

Throughout the entire world, the biomass plant remains an important source of renewable energy. However, in Morocco, the energy recovery of this biomass is little or badly exploited compared to other solar, hydraulic, and wind resources. The aim of this study is to know the extent to which Moroccan companies are involved in the valorization of green waste and to identify among the latter those that have great energy and industrial value. The field investigation was carried out with the use of a questionnaire to different sectors of activity. The chemical analyses of the waste samples were carried out by different methods: Van Soest to investigate the fiber content, dinitrosalicylic acid and phenol-sulfuric acid to determine sugars, while the Folin–Ciocalteu method was employed for the determination of phenolic compounds. These are the ASTM standard methods to determine elemental, proximate composition, and calorific value (CV). The results of this survey showed that solid vegetable waste is diverse and represents 68.4% of the total green waste, of which 98% is not treated. Moreover, the chemical analysis displayed that forestry waste (FW), extracted parts wastes (EPW), and unused parts wastes (UPW) of medicinal and aromatic plants have high contents of cellulose (respectively 34.75, 48.44, and 54.19%) and hemicelluloses (28.44, 27.19 and 28.50%) and containing low amounts of lignin and phenolic compounds compared to olive waste (OW), olive pomace (OP), and household waste (HW). Almost all biomass wastes, except HW, have a low moisture (<12%), ash content less than 5.1%, a significant percentage of C and H, and CV between 14.5 and 21.6 MJ/Kg. The PCA analysis showed a discrepancy in terms of components between the set formed by FW, UPW, and EPW with other solid waste. In conclusion, FW, UPW, and EPW, specially can be potentially energetic biomass and valorized together in the form of a mixture.

The objective of this study is to valorize Papaver rhoeas L. from the Taounate region of Morocco by determining the total polyphenol content (TPC), the total flavonoid content (TFC) and the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of four organs. The quantification of TPC and TFC in root, stem, leaf and flower extracts (RE, SE, LE and FE, respectively) was estimated by the Folin–Ciocalteu reaction and the aluminum trichloride method, respectively. Two tests were used to assess antioxidant power: the DPPH test and TAC assay. The antimicrobial activity was studied against five pathogenic bacteria and yeast, using two methods: disk diffusion and microdilution. The TPC in LE and LF was twice as high as that in RE and SE (24.24 and 22.10 mg GAE/g, respectively). The TFC values in the four extracts were very close and varied between 4.50 mg QE/g in the FE and 4.38 mg QE/g in the RE. The LE and FE showed low DPPH values with IC50 = 0.50 and 0.52 mg/mL, respectively. The TAC measurement revealed the presence of a significant amount of antioxidants in the studied extracts, mainly in LE and FE (6.60 and 5.53 mg AAE/g, respectively). The antimicrobial activity results revealed significant activity on almost all of the tested strains. The MIC of FE and SE against E. coli 57 was 1.56 and 0.78 mg/mL, respectively, while against the S. aureus it was 50 and 25 mg/mL, respectively. The low MLC value (1.56 mg/mL) was recorded against E. coli 57 by RE and SE.