Abstract
Biolocculants are gaining attention in research due to their environmental friendliness and innocuousness to human in comparison to the conventional flocculants. The present study aimed to investigate the ability of fungi from Kombucha tea SCOBY to produce effective bioflocculant in bulk. A 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis was utilized to identify the isolate. The medium composition (carbon and nitrogen sources) and culture conditions (inoculum size, temperature, shaking speed, pH, and time) were optimized using one-factor-at-a-time method. The functional groups, morphology, and crystallinity of the bioflocculant were evaluated using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scan electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The fungus was found to be Pichia kudriavzevii MH545928.1. It produced a bioflocculant with flocculating activity of 99.1% under optimum conditions; 1% (v/v) inoculum size, glucose and peptone as nutrient sources, 35 °C, pH 7 and the shaking speed of 140 rpm for 60 h. A cumulus-like structure was revealed by SEM; FT-IR displayed the presence of hydroxyl, carboxyl, amine, and thiocynates. The XRD analysis demonstrated the bioflocculant to have big particles with diffraction peaks at 10° and 40° indicating its crystallinity. Based on the obtained results, P. kudriavzevii MH545928.1 has potential industrial applicability as a bioflocculant producer.
Highlights
Flocculation is a purification technique whereby destabilized colloids in solution aggregate together through mechanisms such as charge neutralization and bridging [1].Flocculants enhance agglomeration of colloidal particles in solution, leading to easy separation [2]
The Kombucha tea SCOBY was used as the source for the isolation of the bioflocculantproducing microorganisms
The study showed that the fungal strain P. kudriavzevii MH545928.1 produce bioflocculant with high flocculating activity under optimum medium components and culture conditions
Summary
Flocculation is a purification technique whereby destabilized colloids in solution aggregate together through mechanisms such as charge neutralization and bridging [1].Flocculants enhance agglomeration of colloidal particles in solution, leading to easy separation [2]. Flocculants are generally used in separation techniques, such as wastewater treatment, drinking water purification, activated sludge dehydration, food fermentation, and downstream processing [3]. They are typically categorized into two groups: chemical and natural flocculants–bioflocculants. Chemical flocculants are predominately employed because of their profound effectiveness [5] They can cause harmful effects to humans as they are mutagenic, neurotoxic, and carcinogenic [6]. Due to their non-degradable nature, they tend to form large volume of sludge, generating environmental pollution [7].
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