Natural Coagulants as Phytoremediation: An In-silico Approach to Distillery Effluent Treatment

Abstract

Distillery effluents are among the most challenging industrial pollutants, characterized by high organic load and toxicity, posing severe threats to environmental health. This study employs a novel in-silico strategy to evaluate the bioremediation potential of plant-derived proteins as natural coagulants for distillery wastewater treatment. Key effluent-associated ligands were identified and docked against selected proteins from Moringa oleifera, Hibiscus and Lantana camara using AutoDock Vina within the PyRx platform. Protein stability was validated via Ramachandran plot analysis, ensuring structural integrity. Among the tested candidates, Lectin (PDB ID: 5GQT) from Lantana camara exhibited the strongest binding affinities across multiple ligands, indicating its high potential for pollutant sequestration. These findings underscore the promise of plant-based proteins, particularly lectins, as effective, eco-friendly agents in phytoremediation and sustainable industrial wastewater management. Therefore phytoremediation can be recommended as a complementary treatment strategy to enhance the purification of distillery effluents.