Abstract
Aims: This research attempts to investigate the effect of a biologically mediated filtration technique {using the mycelia from two saprophytic filamentous fungi – Aspergillus flavus (A. flavus) and Aspergillus niger (A. niger), isolated from the soil} on the physicochemical indices of an Industrial (Brewery) effluent. Study Design: The experiment was conducted in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). In all cases, the value for each data was the mean from 3 replicates. Data were subjected to a one way analysis of variance – ANOVA, while the separation of the means (post Hoc Test) was done using the independent sample T-Test at 1% level of significance. Place of Study: The Study was conducted at different Institutional Laboratories (such as the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi; Environmental Biology Lab., Yaba College of Technology and Chemistry Lab., University of Lagos) in Lagos, Nigeria. Methodology: The effluent samples were analyzed for various physical parameters such as pH, temperature, turbidity, conductivity and Total Dissolved Solids and chemical parameters such as Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Phosphates, Sulphates, Chlorides, Hardness, Alkalinity and Nitrates using standard Original Research Article Annual Research & Review in Biology, 4(24): 4004-4022, 2014 4005 laboratory techniques and equipment. Results: The results obtained from this work showed that both fungal species were able to bring about a significant (p≤0.01) improvement in most of the physicochemical parameters considered in this Brewery effluent when compared to the unfiltered (Control) effluent samples, as well as against approved benchmarks as provided by some statutory regulatory bodies in Nigeria such as the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and now defunct Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA). Conclusion: The results from this study shows that A. niger and A. flavus (that were used in this experiment) has some promise at improving some important physicochemical indicators of a poorly treated brewery effluent.
Highlights
A high number of natural compounds from living or dead plant material are active on a large number of plant processes at various levels of organization [1,2]
This study was conducted 1) To investigate the effects of a series of concentrations of six different fractions of the methanol-water extract of wheat straw on total seed germination and on time needed for seed germination to start and 2) To assess the usefulness of evaluating the recovery of germination to help guide the screening for sequential search of bioactive natural phytochemicals
The ether fraction was extracted with KHCO3, the resulting aqueous layer was acidified to pH 1 with HCl, extracted with diethyl ether, washed with water, yielding the fraction C, and the ethereal layer was re-extracted with NaOH
Summary
A high number of natural compounds from living or dead plant material are active on a large number of plant processes at various levels of organization [1,2]. Such chemicals may have a high potential to provide alternative and more natural ways of controlling and managing weed populations [3] and in the framework of allelopathic investigation the search for chemicals with herbicide activity has grown over the years. Research has been carried to establish more adequate and more rigorous bioassays and methods to investigate seed germination responses to allelopathins, namely in relation to the dependency of functional availability of phytochemicals on seed density [19,20], biologically meaningful parameterization of seed germination or growth over time [21,22] and the relevance of seed morphology including seed volume on seeds responses to allelopathic compounds [23]
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