Abstract
The beer-brewing process produces high amounts of nutrient-rich wastewater, and the increasing number of microbreweries worldwide has created a need for innovative solutions to deal with this waste. In the present study, fungal biomass production and the removal of organic carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen from synthetic brewery wastewater were studied. Different filamentous fungi with a record of safe use were screened for growth, and Trametes versicolor, Pleurotus ostreatus and Trichoderma harzianum were selected for further work. The highest biomass production, 1.78 ± 0.31 g L−1 of dry weight, was observed when P. ostreatus was used for the treatment, while T. harzianum demonstrated the best capability for removing nutrients. The maximum reduction of chemical oxygen demand, 89% of the initial value, was observed with this species. In the removal of total nitrogen and phosphorus, no significant difference was observed between the species, while removal of ammonium varied between the strains. The maximum reduction of ammonium, 66.1% of the initial value, was also found in the T. harzianum treatment. It can be concluded that all treatments provided significant reductions in all water-quality parameters after 3 days of growth and that the utilisation of filamentous fungi to treat brewery wastewater, linked to a deliberate strategy to use the biomass produced, has future potential in a bio-based society.
Highlights
Beer is the fifth most consumed beverage in the world, and the beer-brewing industry constitutes an important economic segment in many countries around the world (Fillaudeau et al 2006; Simate et al 2011)
When a mixed culture of P. ostreatus M2140 and T. harzianum CBS 226.95 was inoculated in Synthetic brewery wastewater (SBW), the biomass produced was significantly lower compared to when pure cultures were applied (Table 2)
The variation in biomass production between the different fungal strains reported in the present study demonstrates the different nutritional needs and adaptation capacities of these organisms
Summary
Beer is the fifth most consumed beverage in the world, and the beer-brewing industry constitutes an important economic segment in many countries around the world (Fillaudeau et al 2006; Simate et al 2011). The brewing process consumes large quantities of water and generates 3–10 L of wastewater per 1 L of beer produced (Simate et al 2011; Olajire 2012; Seluy and Isla 2014). This wastewater typically contains very high levels of organic carbon and phosphorus, and nitrogen levels similar to or higher than those found in raw domestic wastewater (Hang et al 1975; Brewers of Europe 2002; Rao et al 2007; Simate et al 2011). Discharge of brewery wastewater into municipal sewer systems can create odour
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