Batch experiments towards remediation of phenolic syntan using individual as well as co-culture of Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

AbstractThe presence of very high concentrations of organic pollutants, phenols, tannins and heavy metals mainly chromium in wastewater discharged from leather industries, tags it as one of the most polluting industries. The phenolic syntans discharged from tanning units have an adverse effect on living organisms and cause serious environmental pollution, thereby making it very imperative to remove it. Among various treatment methods available for removal of phenols, biodegradation is environment friendly. The present study aims at the remediation of phenolic syntan used in the leather industry employing individual as well as co-culture ofBacillus cereus andPseudomonas aeruginosa at varying syntan concentration in the medium. Parameters such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon (TOC), total phenol content (TPC) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)  indicating biodegradation were analyzed. Promising results were observed withP. aeruginosa, which exhibited a reduction in TPC by 62 –72% in all the concentrations of syntan tested just within 12 h of inoculation, whereas about 67 and 83% reduction in COD and TOC respectively was observed for 2000 ppm concentration at the end of 5 days.B. cereus also demonstrated very good reduction in the above parameters however; percentage was less as compared toP. aeruginosa. In the case of co-culture, the TPC reduction was higher thanB. cereus but lesser thanP. aeruginosa. The percentage reduction in TOC an...
Source: World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research