Geographical distribution and physiology of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipses) - the invasive hydrophyte and a biomass for producing xylitol.

Abstract

At present hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipses) have been ranked as one of the world's worst invasive weeds causing problems to millions of users of water resources. It is known as Blue Devil or Bengal terror in India, Florida devil in South Africa, German in Bangladesh and Water terror by South Western Nigeria 1 with its disruptive impacts on aquatic ecosystem, agriculture, fisheries, production from electricity from hydral power plants, transportation, living conditions and social structures. In last few decades, a special interest has been drawn on this weed for utilising it as an effective water hyacinth biomass (WHB) for production of biofuel, fertilizers, paper etc. It is also utilised in bioremediation and waste water treatment. In this paper the wide geographical distribution of water hyacinth along with the anatomical study of different plant parts and the methodologies adopted for the production of Xylitol has been included. Xylitol is a 5 C sugar poly-alcohol obtained from hemicelluloses of WHB by hydrolysis and fermentation, a sugar substitute for diabetic patients, harmless food , non toxic with many other beneficial role to mankind.