Rosins and turpentines present in pine resins have been widely used both industrially (coatings, electronics and paint) and pharmaceuticals (ointments). Among the main components of these matrices is abietic acid. This study focuses on the characterization and evaluation of the quality of rosins and turpentines in addition to the quantification of abietic acid in rosins. Rosin and spirit of turpentine were obtained separately through the distillation method from P patula and P. oocarpa resin, species grown in the Department of Cauca-Colombia. Resin-tapping was made using the traditional method (cup and gutter). Quality indicators were determined according to ASTM standards. Solubility tests and identification of functional groups were performed on the obtained rosin by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H-NMR). The abietic acid present in the rosins was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). According to their high acid value and low percentage of unsaponifiable matter, the extracted rosins are considered of medium-high quality. Quantification of abietic acid by HPLC showed 14.85 ± 0.24% and 16.09 ± 0.11% for P. patula and P. oocarpa rosin respectively.

Gold mining is one of the major problems of contamination of hydric resources in Colombia, this practice generates a high impact on water quality due to the accumulation of waste during its process. In this study water quality was evaluated in five natural stream beds corresponding to four streams with gold mining operations and one in the Cauca River, taking samples before the water inlet and after the outlet in each operation in the streams of Dios Te Dé, Tamboral, Piedra Imán, and Lorenzo affected by artisanal gold mining labor, which drain into the Salvajina Reservoir on the Cauca River in the municipality of Suárez Cauca, Colombia. Characterization of water bodies in the streams was carried out applying contamination indices of Colombia. The IDEAM protocol was used as guide to monitor the water currents. Samples were taken in 15 stations in the natural stream beds with operations and a sampling station on the Cauca River after the reservoir in these lotic ecosystems, during three periods; two from 2018 and one from 2019. The range of the contamination indices according to the environmental variables were considered. Results show that the contaminants associated with TSS, TUR, and Hg are high in the sampling stations in the output of the operations and the sampling stations of the streams with influence on the operations (T3, T4, I2, I3, D2, and D5). The water quality score according to the ICA IDEAM index varied between acceptable and regular in the different sampling stations. However the Hg concentration in sampling station C1 of the Cauca River is due to contributions from the operations in the amalgamation process. This requires strategic interventions by the communities, miners, operation owners, and control organisms as the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Cauca (CRC) and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS) to minimize the negative impacts on the hydric resource and ecosystemic services associated with this resource.

Los sistemas de producción industrial actuales usan metales pesados para la extracción de un material o como elemento en la refinación de un producto en particular lo que en principio resulta en la obtención del producto deseado con relativos bajos costos de producción. Sin embargo, usar estos metales presenta un grave problema a nivel ambiental debido a sus altos niveles de toxicidad para los organismos con los que interactúen una vez son descargados. Por tanto, se han desarrollado diversos métodos para tratar con estos metales una vez están en el agua y los métodos para analizarlos. Se realizó una búsqueda amplia y actualizada de las fuentes, efectos y toxicidad en los seres vivos, métodos de análisis y las diversas técnicas de tratamiento existentes para metales pesados. Como resultado el investigador estará más preparado al tener información actual sobre los tratamientos a tener en cuenta en la manipulación de metales pesados.

En el presente trabajo de investigación se evaluó el porcentaje de rendimiento de la extracción etanólica de las plantas medicinales Alegría (Scutellaria incarnata) y Amansatoros (Justicia pectoralis), al aplicar dos métodos de maceración con y sin agitación, con el material vegetal entero y molido, además de realizarse pruebas en diferentes tiempos de maceración (6, 12, 24, 48 y 92 horas) hasta llegar a la estabilización de la extracción. Para el análisis de los datos se empleó un modelo de análisis estadístico correspondiente a un diseño experimental en bloques completos al azar con arreglo factorial (Anova), con el fin de determinar los valores estadísticos más relevantes en el proceso de extracción, de acuerdo con el factor tiempo, el método empleado y el tamaño de partícula. Tanto para la planta Alegría como para Amansatoros los resultados indican que, en la obtención del extracto etanólico, el mejor tiempo fue de 48 horas, con el uso de material molido y la aplicación de agitación. Estas condiciones permitieron obtener rendimientos del 37.000 y 37.600% para el extracto etanólico de Amansatoros y Alegría, respectivamente.

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