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HPLC and FTIR Analysis of Phytochemicals and Antioxidants of Aloe vera Exposed to Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Remediation Treatments with Organic and Inorganic Amendments

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Sami,

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PLOS ONE

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The authors extend their appreciation to Taif University, Saudi Arabia, for supporting this work through project number (TU-DSPP-2024-79).

Funding

This research was funded by Taif University, Saudi Arabia, Project No. (TU-DSPP-2024-79).”

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Reviewers' comments:

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The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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-->2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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-->3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.-->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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-->4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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-->5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)-->

Reviewer #1: Comments for Author

Dear Authors,

This manuscript entitled: “ HPLC and FTIR Analysis of Phytochemicals and Antioxidants of Aloe vera Exposed to Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Remediation Treatments with Organic and Inorganic Amendments’’

Is important for the scientific community, through which a species of medicinal plants (Aloe vera) belonging to the Asphodelaceae family was described, mentioning the characteristics of this type.

The work is interesting but it needs to be improved by answering the previous questions.

Please answer those questions:

1. What were the exact compositions and application rates of the organic manure, potassium permanganate, and seaweed extract in each treatment (T1–T5)?

2. How were Aloe vera seedlings selected, standardized, and transplanted into the experimental units?

3. What environmental conditions (light, temperature, watering schedule) were maintained during the 12-week growth period?

4. How were soil samples collected and processed to determine total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH)?

5. What protocol was used to extract acemannan and aloin before HPLC analysis?

6. What reagents and procedures were used to determine total phenolic content (TPC)?

7. How were antioxidant activities assessed (e.g., DPPH, ABTS, or FRAP method)?

8. What procedure was used to analyze amino acid composition in the Aloe vera extract?

9. How were the recovery rates calculated for the remediation treatments?

10. How were statistical analyses performed to determine significant differences among treatments?

Reviewer #2: 1. How strong is the evidence that eco-friendly materials are effective for remediating petroleum-contaminated soils?

2. What specific eco-friendly treatment component contributed most to the successful outcome?

3. What are the practical implications for farmers cultivating medicinal plants in polluted areas?

4. How do these findings contribute to public safety and medicinal plant quality assurance?

5. How might the results differ if contamination levels were higher or lower than 20% crude oil?

6. What long-term effects on soil health are implied by the successful treatment?

7. Do the authors recommend any further research to validate the remediation strategy?

8. How might these findings influence environmental policies regarding petroleum-polluted farmlands?

9. What limitations did the authors acknowledge regarding the results or methods?

10. How do the findings compare with previous studies on petroleum contamination in medicinal plants?

11. How do these conclusions support the use of eco-friendly materials over chemical remediation methods?

Reviewer #3: HPLC and FTIR Analysis of Phytochemicals and Antioxidants of Aloe vera Exposed to Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Remediation Treatments with Organic and Inorganic Amendments".

Report

The subject is very interesting for application Aloe vera. The manuscript can be accepted for the publication in ploes after addressing the following comments. Below I present the observations related to the content.

1. How did the concentrations of vitamins A, C, and E differ between the contaminated control and the best-performing treatment (T4)?

2. What specific trends were observed in total phenolic content (TPC) across the five treatments?

3. How did petroleum contamination affect the total flavonoid content (TFC) compared to uncontaminated soil?

4. Which treatment showed the lowest antioxidant activity, and what might have caused this reduction?

5. Was there a correlation between TPH reduction and recovery of phytochemicals in Aloe vera?

6. How did the presence of petroleum hydrocarbons detected by FTIR differ before and after remediation?

7. Did amino acid composition show any significant changes between treatments?

8. How large was the percentage improvement in nutrient and phytochemical content in treatment T4 compared to the contaminated control?

9. Did any treatment fully restore Aloe vera phytochemicals to levels similar to uncontaminated soil?

10. How did each treatment affect the antioxidant capacity of the Aloe vera extract?

11. Was there a significant relationship between vitamin concentrations and the soil remediation method used?

12. Were any of the VOC-related or aroma-related properties (if measured) affected by petroleum contamination?

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Reviewer #1: Yes: BENABDERRAHMANE Wassila

Reviewer #2: No

Reviewer #3: No

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: Reviewers comments-PONE-D-25-61186.doc

Attachment

Submitted filename: aloe commnet New(1).doc

HPLC and FTIR Analysis of Phytochemicals and Antioxidants of Aloe vera Exposed to Petroleum Hydrocarbons and Remediation Treatments with Organic and Inorganic Amendments

PONE-D-25-61186R1

Dear Dr. Sami,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Nishant Kumar, Ph.D

Academic Editor

PLOS One

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

-

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

-->Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.-->

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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-->2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

-->3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

-->4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.-->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

-->5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.-->

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: Yes

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-->6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)-->

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: The revised version of the manuscript is appropriate and meet the standards set by the journal.The authors did address all the comments adequately.

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-->7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean? ). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy .-->

Reviewer #1: Yes: Benabderrahmane Wassila

Reviewer #2: No

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