Patent ID: 7943049

Claim:
A method of removing contaminants from water, comprising the steps of: adding a cactus mucilage extract to the water, wherein the cactus mucilage extract is a gelling extract or non-gelling extract isolated from a cactus, wherein the gelling extract is isolated comprising the steps of: liquefying cactus plant pads to form a suspension; neutralizing the pH of the suspension; centrifuging the suspension to separate precipitates from a liquid supernatant; collecting the precipitate; adding sodium hydroxide to the collected precipitate to form a suspension; adjusting the pH of the suspension to 2 with hydrochloric acid; centrifuging the suspension to form solids; resuspending the solids in water, and adjusting the pH of the water to 8 using sodium hydroxide; precipitating the extract with acetone; wherein the non-gelling extract is isolated comprising the steps of: liquefying cactus plant pads to form a suspension; neutralizing the pH of the suspension; centrifuging the suspension to separate solids from a liquid supernatant; collecting the liquid supernatant; mixing the liquid supernatant with a sodium chloride solution to form a pulp; adding acetone to the pulp at a ratio of acetone to pulp of 1:2 to form a precipitate; washing the precipitate with isopropanol at a ratio of 1:1; mixing an effective concentration of the cactus mucilage extract the water to remove the contaminants by flocculation, wherein the cactus mucilage extract is the non-gelling extract, the gelling extract, or the combined non-gelling and gelling extract; allowing contaminants in the water to settle; and separating the settled contaminants from the water.