Water Hyacinth: A Unique Source for Sustainable Materials and Products

Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is a weed ubiquitously found in lakes, rivers, and other water bodies across the globe. With high rates of regeneration, survival, and growth, it is generally difficult to clear water bodies infested with water hyacinth. However, these features of water hyacinth can be considered as advantageous. Researchers have attempted to use hyacinth as an absorbent for heavy metals, water pollutants, and others. Although a large number of studies have been done on using the stems and leaves of water hyacinth as absorbent, there are several interesting and novel applications of water hyacinth. For example, water hyacinth has been demonstrated to be useful to develop supercapacitors, for production of ethanol, and to improve the immune resistance of plants and animals. In this review, we provide an opportunity for readers to realize the unique nature of water hyacinth and its potential to be used to develop products for various applications.