Optimization of single-cell protein production from textile effluent at extreme conditions

Abstract

The textile industry is one of the greatest generators of liquid effluent pollutants, due to the high quantities of water used in the dyeing processes. In this study, single-cell protein (SCP) production from textile effluent by Haloarcula sp. IRU1 was optimized by the Taguchi orthogonal array (OA) design. An OA layout was constructed with six factors: carbon source concentration, type of phosphorus source, phosphorus source concentration, type of nitrogen source, nitrogen source concentration, and temperature at four levels for the proposed experimental design. Qualitek-4 software was used to design and analyze the Taguchi experiments. The optimized conditions for the maximum production of SCP were 8% textile effluent (as the carbon source), 0.4% tryptone (as the nitrogen source), and 0.001% Na3PO4 (as the phosphorus source), at a temperature of 47°C. In conclusion, halophilic microorganism Haloarcula sp. IRU1 could potentially be a suitable microorganism for the biodegradation of textile effluent and production of SCP at extreme conditions.