Original Research Paper Biomass-derived thermal preparation of calcite, from phyto-capped marine gastropod shell, Turbinella pyrum L Rajathurai Shailaja a , Govindasamy Tamilarasan a , Kannabiran Parthasarathy a,⇑ , Sathiyarajeswaran Parameswaran b a Animal & Mineral Origin Drug Research Laboratory (AMDRL), Siddha Central Research Institute, Central Council for Research in Siddha, Arignar Anna Hospital Campus, Arumbakkam, Chennai 600 106, India b Siddha Central Research Institute, Central Council for Research in Siddha, Arignar Anna Hospital Campus, Arumbakkam, Chennai 600 106, India article info Article history: Received 31 March 2020 Received in revised form 16 May 2020 Accepted 1 June 2020 Available online xxxx Keywords: Aragonite Calcite Phyto-capping Siddha Incineration abstract Preparation of Calcite, by biomass-derived incineration of phyto-capped, marine gastropod shell Turbinella pyrum L is described. Turbinella pyrum shell is mechanically hard, characterized as Aragonite, was phyto-capped and incinerated to prepare Calcite powder, of nano-micro sizes. The role of phyto- constituents in the phyto-capping, is attributed to the increase in the internal pressure, perceived by release of intercalated organic moieties, resulting in the reduction of particle size in comparison with uncapped process. The incineration process was optimized by solid state UV-DRS whereby, the absorp- tion in the region 400–700 nm was considered for process optimization, which may be attributed to the strong p to p* ligand transitions of chlorophyll. The gastropod shell of marine origin was purified in high alkaline medium, to remove/reduce the associated trace impurities present in the complex marine environment, such as barium, aluminium and magnesium into their respective carbonate salts, and was quantified by ICP-OES. FT-IR, FT-Raman and PXRD techniques were used for characterization. SEM revealed agglomerated non-uniform nano and micro particles. Calcite, is known as ‘Sangu Parpam’, in the traditional Siddha system of medicines used in India and is one of the classical formulations used to treat arthritis, gastritis, skin diseases. Ó 2020 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Marine endowed resources of pharmaceutics are aplenty in conch shells, corals, coral reefs, pearls, pearl oyster shells, cowries (gastropods) and bi-valve molluscs. These biogenic shells comprise of carbonate salts of calcium in combination with strontium, mag- nesium and barium as trace interstitial elements existing with dif- ferent polymorphs [1]. Calcite is the most stable crystalline form of CaCO 3 and all other forms are interconverted into calcite by ther- mal treatment [2]. The structural transformation of aragonite to stable calcite, is an endothermic process controlled by kinetics [3]. The high porosity, surface area to volume ratio, non-toxicity and biocompatibility towards bodily fluids naturally facilitate the potential utility of CaCO 3 particles in the field of medicine, cataly- sis, environment, food processing and material reinforcement while enhancing their physical and chemical properties at the same time. Polymorphs of CaCO 3 have diverse applications in var- ious fields including pharmaceutics as nano-drug delivery system, and for calcium supplementation and also in material science. Cockle shell-derived aragonite nanoparticle, a metastable form of CaCO 3 , is used as a nano-drug delivery system in breast cancer treatment [4], and as an antibiotic for the treatment of osteomyeli- tis [5]. Nanocalcium from oyster shell has been found to be highly bioavailable and studied for preventing osteoporosis in rats [6], while calcined oyster shell has been used in the stabilization of contaminated soil by immobilizing arsenic, copper and lead [7]. Some of the marine products have been used in Indian Systems of Medicine including Siddha and Ayurveda since many centuries. Conches and bivalves have been used by humans since the period of Indus valley civilization [8,9]. Among numerous types of conches, the ‘sacred chank’ or ‘Shankha’ or ‘Sangu’, which is zoolog- ically known as Turbinella pyrum L finds much usage in India since ancient times [10] especially in terms religious and traditional practices. Calcite, known as ‘Sangu Parpam’ (SP) in the traditional Siddha System of Medicine is widely used in India and is one of https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apt.2020.06.002 0921-8831/Ó 2020 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author at: Animal & Mineral origin Drug Research Laboratory (AMDRL), CCRS-Siddha Central Research Institute, Arignar Anna Hospital Campus, Arumbakkam, Chennai 600 106, India. E-mail address: k.parthasarathy@gov.in (K. Parthasarathy). Advanced Powder Technology xxx (xxxx) xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Advanced Powder Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apt Please cite this article as: R. Shailaja, G. Tamilarasan, K. Parthasarathy et al., Biomass-derived thermal preparation of calcite, from phyto-capped marine gastropod shell, Turbinella pyrum L, Advanced Powder Technology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apt.2020.06.002