Bioremediation of Nitrite from Brackishwater Using Lignocellulosic Agricultural Waste – Bagasse

Abstract

Bagasse is a complex native lignocellulosic agricultural waste left after extraction of juice from sugar cane in sugar mills. Bagasse is commonly used as a captive boiler fuel aside from its minor use as a raw material in the paper industry and in low-value products. There remains an ever present need to convert this material to useful value added products, which is an objective of our continued research. The aim of the present study is to investigate four different materials prepared from bagasse for the removal of nitrite from shrimp farm brackishwater (salinity 27±1 ppt) in laboratory condition. The experimental results showed that nitrite removal is effective using bagasse materials with the dose of 1 and 3 g•L-1. Raw bagasse fiber was found to be most effective followed by dried bagasse powder, which can be attributed to the rapid increase in bacterial counts and periphytic growth combined with ion exchange mechanism. Effect of bagasse materials on other water characteristics such as pH, salinity, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, ammonia and phosphates has also been studied. The very low cost of lignocellulosic materials is a real advantage that renders it as a suitable alternative for the remediation of nitrite from aquaculture water.