PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Heavy metal pollution in water, especially in the North Jakarta area, has become severe from time to time. A heavy metal adsorbent is one of the alternative solutions to clean the waste water from industries before it is released into the environment. In this paper, we create pectin that has been proven to be an effective absorbent for heavy metal (Pb) and is made of Musa Acuminata Cavendish (cavendish banana) and Musa Paradisiaca Formatypica (horn shaped banana). These two banana species can be easily found in the markets of Jakarta. Therefore, we compare the two species to find out which is more effective to use as heavy metal adsorbent. The selection is based on the reduction of the Pb concentration after the introduction of banana pectin by means of Pb emission intensity reading taken using commercially available laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system. The effectiveness of pectin from the two banana skins as Pb adsorbent is comparable either in pellet form or solution in water. The result shows that the average effectiveness of homemade pectin as Pb adsorbent is 37.5%, which is lower than the commercial pectin available in the market. In the future, the technique of producing homemade pectin will be improved to get better Pb absorption efficiency.