Pine Needles Research Articles

Valorization potential of pine needle waste biomass: recent trends and future perspectives.

Pines play a significant role in forest biodiversity globally and generate huge forest litter. Dry pine needles due to low ignition temperature and high frictional force with the ground catch fire quickly. Annual forest fires in the northern states of India greatly impact the Indian economy besides causing huge loss to biodiversity, livelihood, and environment. Pine needles are also considered unfit for fodder consumption due to presence of tannins. Although the presence of softwood lignin in pine needles makes it difficult to degrade easily, the presence of holocellulose (68.5%) containing 45-51% cellulose makes this biomass a potential substrate to be used in pulp-making industries for low-grade paper sheets. The good fiber length of pine needles (1.3-1.4mm) with a diameter of 30-32μm, maybe considered important property for paper making. The use of pine needles in the pharmaceutical and food industries are due to the presence of secondary metabolites (α-pinene, β-pinene, caryophyllene etc.). The various other potential applications of pine needles are for producing bio-ethanol (yield, 3.98%; purity, 94%), biogas (yield, 23.1 L kg-1), smokeless briquettes (calorific value, 18.77MJkg-1), biochar (calorific value, 25.6MJkg-1), bio-composites (tensile strength, 21-60MPa), and bio-pesticides. This paper comprehensively reviews the current applications of pine needles along with its future prospective applications that can have the dual advantage of providing employment opportunities to the people along with environmental protection.

Production of biochar briquettes from torrefaction of pine needles and its quality analysis

Systematic use of pine needles of chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) for energy applications can fulfil the growing energy demand along with prevent forest fires. In the present study, the transformation of pine needles into biochar and subsequently into briquettes is reported. The biochar is produced from torrefaction by optimizing parameters such as temperature, CO2 flow rate and heating rate to maximize the yield of biochar. The maximum biochar yield of 44.19 % is found. The biochar having the highest calorific value (27.73 MJ/kg) is used for preparing briquettes. Several binders namely animal fat, molasses, bentonite powder and starch are investigated in five different ratios (1 % to 20 %) to increase the adhesiveness of briquettes. The briquette with 20 wt% animal fat has the best quality among all briquettes and has a density of 462.24 kg/m3 and a calorific value of 31.17 MJ/kg when compared to other binders in varied ratios.

Potential of Pine Needle Biomass for Bioethanol Production

Currently, fossil fuels are used to produce fuels and electricity, which are finite sources and have a negative impact on the natural environment. An excellent alternative to these fuels is biofuels, such as bioethanol from waste forest biomass. Pine needles are one of the most important available forest biomass materials with s significant impact on local understory vegetation. Forest waste biomass, which is a rich source of lignocellulose, can be used in various ways, such as for the eco-economical production of bioethanol. The aim of this study was to analyze the possibilities of bioethanol production from pine needle biomass obtained from forest land following different soil preparations and logging residue management. The pine needle dry matter yield, chemical components of pine needle biomass (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin), and the amount of ethanol yield per hectare were evaluated. The highest average yield pine needle equal to 6.17 Mg∙ha−1 was observed. Bioethanol yield per hectare from this biomass was the highest for plowing with the LPZ-75 plow and was 1.08 m3∙ha−1. The discussed results were confirmed by detailed statistical analysis. To sum up, the researched pine needle biomass turned out to be an interesting raw material with the potential for bioethanol production.

Molecular-level investigation on removal mechanisms of aqueous hexavalent chromium by pine needle biochar

Pine needle biochar produced via oxygen-limited pyrolysis at 800 °C for 2 h was used for removing aqueous hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] from water. The optimality of the pseudo-second order kinetic model indicated the chemisorption dominated the removal process. Strong acid environment (pH = 2.0) was more conductive to Cr(VI) removal. The functional groups (C–O, O–C–O, C = O) on biochar contributed to Cr(VI) elimination from aqueous solution. The governing removal mechanisms involved electrostatic attraction, reduction, and complexation. Especially, confocal micro-X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) mapping indicated that Cr ions and functional groups were primarily distributed on the surface of biochar. This study firstly provided a deep interpretation of Cr speciation and spatial distribution on pine needle biochar, which provided important information on removal mechanisms of Cr(VI) by pine needle biochar.

Characterization of pine needle and pine needle biochar: a potential soil amendment for sustainable forest waste management

Pine needles are the residue of pine (Pinus roxburghii), a problematic forest waste and is highly flammable which is the one of major causes of forest fire in the North Western hills of India. High lignin and resin content with low moisture is the reason behind it being one. To find an appropriate management of this residue the pine needle was characterised and further converted to biochar (500 ºC), a carbon-rich solid material produced through a process called pyrolysis by heating biomass, in the absence of oxygen. This process breaks down the organic matter into volatile gases, leaving behind a residue known as biochar. Pine needles are suitable for generating biochar due to their high carbon content, low moisture content, high lignin content, abundance and availability. The pine needles aromatic compounds contribute to biochar stability and potential applications. Physical, Physico-chemical, and spectral characterisation of biochar was performed to analyse its further applicability and the biochar, was found suitable as soil amendment and as a mean of enhancing soil organic carbon.

FEATURES OF ADSORPTION OF PARTICULATE MATTER BY NEEDLES AND LEAVES OF TREES IN IRKUTSK URBAN FORESTS

The pollution of natural forests preserved on the territory of the Irkutsk city was studied in terms of the level of adsorption of aerosol particles (particulate matter, PMx) by main forest-forming species of woody plants. The needles of Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.), as well as leaves of Silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) were sampled on the laid test plots to study their sorption capacity in relation to PMx. Using the methods of scanning electron microscopy and X-ray spectral microanalysis, a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and chemical composition of aerosol particles on the surface of needles and leaves was shown. The adsorbed PMx particles were found to contain carbon, silicon, sulfur, calcium, phosphorus, chlorine, and magnesium in the greatest amount; a significant proportion of heavy metals present in the form of metallized particle accumulations, in which the metal content can reach 80%. It has been shown that aerosol particles actively penetrate needle/leaf tissues through stomata and cuticle, damaging them. With a high level of pollution by PMx, complete clogging of the stomata and heavy destruction of dermal tissues are often observed. The high level of adsorption of particulate matter by needles and leaves of trees indicates a high cleaning capacity of urban forests. At the same time, pollution with PMx particles has a powerful negative effect on physiological and biochemical processes of a tree organism, which is manifested in a sharp violation of the parameters of photosynthesis, transpiration, and inhibition of growth processes.

Weed suppression by mulches in Mentha x piperita L.

The suitability of mulch for weed control in cultivated Mentha x piperita L. has been insufficiently studied. The results of this study show that this crop is sensitive to weed infestation. The objective was to evaluate the effects of mulch materials on weed suppression and yield of M. piperita. Two organic mulches, sawdust of acacia and dry pine needles, and two synthetic mulches, silver-brown and black “agrotextile” film, were compared with hand-weeded and non-weeded controls. Weed density and biomass per species were reduced in all treatments. The best biomass reduction was achieved with silver-brown film (96.3–100%) followed by black “agrotextile” film (74.6–95.9%). The treatments also reduced total dry weed biomass; the synthetic ones reduced biomass in the range of 84.6–100%, and the organic ones 28.5–81.4%. Under synthetic mulches, M. piperita generally achieved higher yields than under organic mulches. The best yields were obtained in 2016 with black “agrotextile” film (4.2 t ha−1) and in 2017 with silver-brown film (1.5 t ha−1). Significant differences in the relative chlorophyll content of M. piperita leaves were observed between treatments. The lowest inhibition of relative chlorophyll content compared to the hand-weeded control was observed in synthetic mulches. They ranged from − 1.93–4.53%, confirming their superiority in terms of the herbal drug M. piperita. The outcomes of this study show that the application of synthetic mulches, especially the silver-brown film, seems to be the most suitable model for non-chemical weed control in M. piperita cultivation.

Basic Larval Structural Composition of Thaumetopoea Pityocampa (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) (Lepidoptera:Notodontidae ) During Feeding Inhibition Due to Some Natural Chemicals

Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) (Lepidoptera:Notodontidae ) is the most important defoliating insect for several pine species and cedars. In this study, body nutrient composition of T. pityocampa larvae were analyzed under feeding inhibition caused by natural chemical agents. In no-choice assays, larvae were fed ponderosa pine needles treated with oleic acid and chlorogenic acid solutions, respectively, at each of four concentrations, 0%, 25%, 50% and 75%. The neetles were as given to separate test groups. At the end of feeding experiments, antifeedant index (AFI) was calculated for each solutions with different concentrations. Then, rates of protein, lipid, glycogen and water of larvae were calculated for control and test groups. It was determined that there had been a strong relation between concentrations of solution and AFI values regarding oleic acid (r= 0.998, P < 0.05). However, there was no significant relationship between concentrations of solution and AFI values regarding chlorogenic acid (r= 0.663, P > 0.5). The most remarkable finding was a sharp decline in the level of larval glycogen during starvation period in accordance with rising concentrations of both oleic and chlorogenic acid in its food. The glycogen level of the larvae was also affected by both chemical applications

Development and characterization of novel low-cost engineered pine needle biochar and montmorillonite clay based proton exchange membrane for microbial fuel cell

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) are a potential method for treating wastewater and recovering energy. Proton exchange membranes (PEM) are one of the MFC's main parts and have a big impact on both how well it works and how much it costs. In this paper, low cost and affordable membrane was developed from forestry waste pine needles. Pine needle (PN) biochar was prepared by pyrolysis at 600 °C and then sulphonation was done. Sulphonated pine needle biochar (SPB) was mixed with montmorillonite clay (MMT) as inorganic support for preparing membrane. Conductivity, ion exchange capacity, and proton mass transfer coefficient of different membranes were evaluated and found to be 2.53 ± 0.23 S/cm × 10−4, 3.27 meq/g, and 11.35 × 10−5, respectively for SPB30-MMT. Compared to bare MMT membrane (6.13 %), SPB30-MMT membrane had a greater water uptake capacity (31.95 %). These membranes were examined by deploying in MFCs and gave 86 % chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency and 297 mV voltage output, simultaneously. This study indicates that PN biochar-based membranes could be an affordable option for producing bioelectricity through microbial fuel cells.

In Vitro Fermentation Characteristics of Pine Needles (Pinus densiflora) as Feed Additive

In this study, the fermentation characteristics of pine needles were investigated for the first time and the possibility of using them as plant-derived feed additives was confirmed. Four types of fermented pine needle were prepared: (1) natural fermentation (CON); (2) Lactobacillus plantarum SK4315 fermentation (LPF); (3) Saccharomyces cerevisiae SK3587 fermentation (SCF); and (4) co-culture fermentation (CCF). Fermentation lasted 48 h, and samples were taken at 4-h intervals until 12 h, then at 24 and 48 h. As analysis items, fermentation characteristics, antibacterial, antioxidant, and enzymatic activities were investigated. As a result, all pine needle cultures were fermented with changes in the number of viable cells and pH. LPF inhibited the growth of the most pathogens, and the activity became stronger with fermentation. Total polyphenol content (TPC) was the highest in the 48 h SCF and LPF samples, ABTS radical scavenging ability and intracellular antioxidant activity were higher in SCF. Enzymatic activities were different depending on each pine needle culture medium and the fermentation time. In summary, all pine needle cultures were normally fermented, and as fermentation progressed, LPF strengthened antibacterial activity and SCF strengthened antioxidant activity. This study confirmed the potential of fermented pine needles as a feed additive, showing an enhancement of biological activity.

High-Energy Transformations of Fossil Fuels in the Cement Industry

The energy stored in fossil fuels is released through combustion and is a fundamental process in the production of cement. The negative aspect of this combustion is the emission of greenhouse gases and dust. This paper presents the results of a study conducted within a cement plant in Ożarów (south-eastern Poland). The chemical properties (selected elements) in the needles of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) were determined. The needle surface was scanned using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and was characterised in terms of chemical composition through energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The concentrations of selected analytes in the biennial needles formed the following descending sequence: Fe > Al > Mn > Zn > Cu > Pb > Cr > Ni. SEM/EDS microphotographs showed the presence of particles of varying shape, size and chemical composition indicative of anthropogenic origin.

Competition intensity affects growing season nutrient dynamics in Korean pine trees and their microhabitat soil in mixed forest

Exploring the response mechanisms of the understorey replanted target trees to competitive pressure from upper neighbouring trees in mixed forests is the scientific basis for growth promotion of the target trees. Taking a mixed forest of artificial planted Korean pine trees (target species) and natural broadleaved trees as the studying case, six competition intensity gradients to Korean pine trees were established according to the Hegyi competition index and the responses of growth, hormones and nutrition status of the target Korean pine trees to different competition intensities were analysed. Competition intensities had significant effect on the growth of Korean pine trees, and the more significant the competition intensity was, the more pronounced the inhibition effect. When the Hegyi competition index was greater than 15, the neighbourhood trees had a significant inhibition effect on the growth of Korean pine trees. With the increase of the competition intensity, the content of gibberellin and indoleacetic acid in Korean pine trees decreased; the content of abscisic acid increased; the moisture content of needles, the soluble sugar content and C/N ratio of needles and roots decreased; the chlorophyll, P and K and starch content, and total non-structure carbohydrates (NSC) of needles and roots increased at first and then decreased; the P and K content and C/N ratio in Korean pine microhabitat soil decreased. Excessive adjacent tree competition reducing the living space, the endogenous hormone content, nutrient content, and NSC of the target Korean pine trees, resulting in the growth of the target trees and subsequent nutrient synthesis to be inhibited. Appropriate adjacent tree competition increased the target tree chlorophyll, NSC, and nutrient content and had no excessive inhibitory effect on the growth of the target Korean pine trees. There was certain trait correlationship between Korean pine needles and fine roots, but there was an endostatin equilibrium mechanism for changes in the surrounding soil of the target trees. The above results indicated that competition intensity of the upper neighbourhood trees significantly influenced the growth and internal nutrient situation of the replanted target trees and their microhabitat soil conditions. In this case, when the Hegyi competition index of neighbouring trees in the surrounding area of the understorey planted target Korean pine trees was greater than 15, the growth space of target trees should be regulated to ensure their healthy development.

Upslope fire spread and heat transfer mechanism over a pine needle fuel bed with different slopes and winds

The surface fire spread involved slope and wind effects are significantly important in wildland fires, while very limited attention has been paid on the heat transfer mechanism, especially for different fire line conditions. This work experimentally evaluates the effects of slope angle (0˚ to 30˚) and wind velocity (0 to 2 m/s) on spread of surface fire over a pine needle fuel bed. Flame length, flame angle, rate of fire spread, fuel consumption rate and heat flux are acquired and quantitatively analyzed. Two different fireline shapes of sheet and inverted ‘v’ are observed and assumed for different wind velocities and slope angles, respectively. The flame length, rate of spread, mass loss rate and heat flux increase with the increasing wind velocity and slope angle, while flame angle and fuel consumption efficiency vary in the opposite way. The extreme fire can be observed with the external manifestations of a steep increase in flame length, rate of spread and heat flux under conditions of larger wind velocity and slope angle, which is similar to an eruptive fire. In addition, the heat transfer of convection and radiation heat flux is quantitatively analyzed with wind velocity and slope angle to explore heat flux control mechanism. Moreover, the modified models of radiation heat flux considering fire line shape are presented, which demonstrates good effectiveness in predicting radiation heat flux by comparing the calculated values and experimental data.

Flaming Ignition of PMMA, Pine Wood and Pine Needle by External Radiation: Autoignition and Radiant Distance Effect

Flame radiation is one of the important causes of wildland–urban interface (WUI) fires. PMMA, pine needle and pine wood are the most common fuels in WUI fires, but the radiant distance effect on the flaming ignitions as well as the subsequent burning behavior is still poorly understood. This work represents an experiment to investigate the flaming autoignition of PMMA, pine-needle and pine-wood fuel beds with different radiant distances (25 mm–100 mm) under a uniform incident radiant heat flux, 25 kW/m2 The experiment results show that for PMMA and pine wood, they all transition from gas-phase ignition near the cone heater to solid-phase ignition. For pine needle, it has smoldering ignition and smoldering-to-flaming ignition. The relationship between radiant distance and ignition delay time is an approximately inverted u-shape curve, and there exists a critical radiant distance (D = 60 mm) for the minimum ignition delay time. For pine wood and PMMA, when D < 60 mm, there exists a linear relationship between radiant distance, D, and tig−1/2.

Presence and activity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in Scots pine needles in a boreal forest: a nitrogen-addition experiment.

Endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacteria have been detected and isolated from the needles of conifer trees growing in North American boreal forests. Because boreal forests are nutrient-limited, these bacteria could provide an important source of nitrogen for tree species. This study aimed to determine their presence and activity in a Scandinavian boreal forest, using immunodetection of nitrogenase enzyme subunits and acetylene-reduction assays of native Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) needles. The presence and rate of nitrogen fixation by endophytic bacteria were compared between control plots and fertilized plots in a nitrogen-addition experiment. In contrast to the expectation that nitrogen-fixation rates would decline in fertilized plots, as seen, for instance, with nitrogen-fixing bacteria associated with bryophytes, there was no difference in the presence or activity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria between the two treatments. The extrapolated calculated rate of nitrogen fixation relevant for the forest stand was 20gNha-1year-1, which is rather low compared with Scots pine annual nitrogen use but could be important for the nitrogen-poor forest in the long term. In addition, of 13 colonies of potential nitrogen-fixing bacteria isolated from the needles on nitrogen-free media, 10 showed in vitro nitrogen fixation. In summary, 16S rRNA sequencing identified the species as belonging to the genera Bacillus, Variovorax, Novosphingobium, Sphingomonas, Microbacterium and Priestia, which was confirmed by Illumina whole-genome sequencing. Our results confirm the presence of endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacteria in Scots pine needles and suggest that they could be important for the long-term nitrogen budget of the Scandinavian boreal forest.

Identification and sequence determination of a new chrysovirus infecting the phytopathogenic fungus Dothistroma septosporum

A new double-stranded (ds) RNA mycovirus has been identified in isolate Ds752-1 of the phytopathogenic fungus Dothistroma septosporum, the causal agent of Dothistroma needle blight, also known as red band needle blight or pine needle blight. Dothistroma septosporum chrysovirus 1 (DsCV-1) is a new member of the genus Alphachrysovirus in the family Chrysoviridae. The DsCV-1 genome comprises four dsRNA elements designated 1, 2, 3, and 4 from largest to smallest. dsRNA1 encodes an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRP) that is most similar to the RdRP of Erysiphe necator associated chrysovirus 3. dsRNA2 potentially encodes two hypothetical proteins, one of which is small and has no homology to known proteins, and one of which is large with significant sequence similarity to the alphachryso-P3 of other alphachrysoviruses. dsRNA3 and dsRNA4 encode a coat protein (CP) and a putative cysteine protease, respectively. This is the first report of a mycovirus infecting the fungus D. septosporum, and DsCV-1 is one of three Chrysoviridae family members found to possess genomic dsRNAs potentially encoding more than one protein.

Unique CO2 adsorption of pine needle biochar-based activated carbons by induction of functionality transition

CO2 capture has become the world’s most urgent agenda nowadays. In this work, we induced functionality transition of heteroatom-rich pine needle biochar based activated carbon for CO2 adsorption by modulating activation conditions. The surface functionalities and porosity of the activated carbon derived from pine needles were investigated intensively according to the activation conditions. The transition of surface functional groups and development of porosity were observed as activation progressed. CO2 adsorption performances were determined under various conditions, and the adsorption capacities, adsorption selectivities, and cyclabilities were evaluated. From these results, different CO2 adsorption mechanisms based on the surface functionality and porosity were clearly defined. The pyridinic, pyrrolic(N- based), and Ca(OH)2(Ca-based) CO2 sorbing functional groups derived from mild activation enabled chemical sorption with great adsorption selectivity. The high porosity derived from the severe activation conditions resulted in physical adsorption with excellent cyclability at 298 K but the chemical sorption property was weakened by the shift of surface groups to graphitic-N and CaCO3 rich groups. The modulation of functional groups and porosity enabled utilizing pine needles for effective CO2 removal under various conditions.

The reverse function of lignin-degrading enzymes: The polymerization ability to promote the formation of humic substances in domesticated composting

This study aimed to confirm the ability of lignin peroxidase (LiP) and manganese peroxidase (MnP) in promoting the formation of humic substances (HS) during domesticated composting. Three raw materials with different lignin types were used for composting, including rice straw, tree branches, and pine needles. Results suggested that LiP and MnP activity increased during domesticated composting. But HS formation was only promoted by LiP. The effect of MnP was insignificant, which might be caused by the lack of enzyme cofactors like Mn2+. Meanwhile, bacteria highly associated with LiP and MnP production were identified as core bacteria. Function prediction of 16S-PICRUSt2 showed that the function of core bacteria was consistent with total bacterial functions which mainly promoted compost humification. Therefore, it speculated that LiP and MnP had the ability to promote HS formation during composting. Accordingly, it is a new understanding of the role of biological enzymes in composting.

Сезонная динамика содержания компонентов антиокислительной системы хвои сосны обыкновенной (Pinus sylvestris L.) в зоне локального теплового воздействия

The seasonal changes in a period of low temperatures and characteristic correlations of some antioxidant system (AOS) components in pine needles influenced by a gas flare are investigated in this study. The parameters taken are total water content (TWC) in needles, peroxidase activity (AP) and selected elements of the antioxidant system of needles, such as content of carotenoids (Car), ascorbic acid (AA), catechins (Cat) and flavanols (Fl). The needles come from Scots pine trees (Pinus sylvestris L.), which grow in a gradient of environmental conditions formed in the zone of thermal field of the gas flare impact (at various distances). The gas flare is situated on the territory of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug (UGRA) of Russia. Three hypotheses were subject to verification: 1) the thermal field of the gas flare during the low temperature period affects the water exchange and the AOS state of needles; 2) increase in temperature of the environment in the flare impact zone during the autumn-winter period causes the decrease in amount of moisture in needles, which is a trait of oxidative stress in cells; 3) in the functioning of а needle’s AOS, there are correlations between its components, which values depend on distance from the gas flare and environment created by it. It was found that in the thermal field gradient of the flare, there is neither an additional reduction in TWC in needles compared to the background nor signs of change in the state of AOS corresponding to the oxidative stress in the cells. The greatest impact of the gas flare on characteristics of the physiological state of pine needles is observed in the section closest to the flare. It reveals in the higher values of AP, TWC, Car and decrease in concentration of Fl and AA. The seasonal dynamics of the studied traits values do not correlate with the temperature of the environment. It indicates the indirect effect on the regulation of needle’s AOS activity. The factor and correlation analysis of the data indicate a difference in physiological state of pine needles at different distances from the flare. There is no domination of any processes in the functioning of AOS components. The observed correlations between the studied properties change according to distance to the flare. The most stable is a negative AP relationship with ofter parameters, which rise with the increased distance from the flare. The consistency degree of separate AOS components functioning is maximal in background conditions and decreases when approaching the flare. This fact is explained by the modifying effect of the flare on physiological and biochemical processes of the needle’s adaptation to specific climatic conditions of the environment. For citation: Shavnin S.A., Yusupov I.A., Montile A.A., Golikov D.Yu., Marina N.V. Seasonal Dynamics of Content of Antioxidant System Components in Needles of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Trees Situated in the Local Warming Impact Zone. Lesnoy Zhurnal = Russian Forestry Journal, 2023, no. 2, pp. 38–57. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2023-2-38-57

Dye removal from simulated and real textile effluent using laccase immobilized on pine needle biochar

Textile industries generate huge amount of water containing harmful azo dyes that have known carcinogenic and mutagenic toxicities. Removal of these azo dyes is an important step in the treatment of wastewater. This work evaluates the potential application of enzyme immobilized biochar for the removal of azo dyes from real and simulated textile effluents. The simulated textile effluent was prepared using azo dyes Congo red, Malachite green and their mixture. Dye removal studies were conducted in batch studies using laccase immobilized biochar and optimization of immobilization was achieved through response surface methodology. In the case of simulated effluent, higher dye removal efficiencies were obtained when added separately (73.8 % for Malachite green dye and 88.1 % for Congo red) in comparison to when mixed together (59.3 % for Malachite green dye and 78.7 % for Congo red). In the case of real textile effluent, the dye removal through an enzyme immobilized system with 100 % removal efficiency was obtained for one of the dye peaks while it was 35.7 % for the other dye present in the effluent along with 33.3 % COD removal. The real textile effluent was analyzed by GC–MS and the presence of one of the metabolite phenol,2,4-bis (1,1-dimethyl ethyl) in the GC–MS spectra indicated degradation of dye Mordant Black. Thus, an enzyme immobilized biochar system can be used for simultaneous dye adsorption and degradation of toxic azo dyes from real effluents.