Reduction of organic load from palm oil mill effluent (POME) using selected fungal strains isolated from POME dump sites

Abstract

Environmental concerns are becoming important global tasks. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) contains oil and grease and also rich in organic matter in the form of total suspended solids which can increase biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of POME. It is generated in huge quantities during the production of crude palm oil and pollutes land, water and atmosphere if left untreated. The current study mainly focuses on evaluating the efficacy of fungal isolates screened and isolated from POME dump sites in the bioremediation of POME. Five fungal species used in the present study were previously isolated by the author from POME dump sites of Pedavegi palm oil mill industry. Out of these, Emericella nidulans NFCCI 3643 was proven to be an excellent biological agent in reducing the organic load of POME. The organism showed 80.28% reduction in COD, 88.23% in BOD and 87.34% in oil/grease content at their optimal environmental and nutritional conditions. The mixed cultures showed better reduction efficiency as compared to individual pure cultures. The natural inhabitants of POME dump sites showed their lipolytic ability and E. nidulans was found to be an excellent agent in the bioremediation of POME. Fungal isolates in consortium can function better in bioremediating POME than individual pure cultures.

Pome Treatment Using Ab-101 Microbial Consortium: Performance and Proposed Mechanism

“…The consortium was able to reduce BOD by 90.23%, COD by 91.06% and total suspended solids (TSS) by 92.23%. On the other hand, Suseela and Muralidhar (2018) isolated five fungal species from POME dump sites and evaluated their efficacy in the bioremediation of POME. The reductions in COD, BOD and oil and grease content were 80.28%, 88.23% and 87.34%, respectively.…”

Isolation of Bacteria with Purifying Potential and Application in the Treatment of Effluents from an Artisanal Palm Oil Mill in the Littoral Region of Cameroon

“…The efficacy of each isolate was determined by characterization of the effluent (COD and O/F) before and after fermentation. For this purpose, 3 L of effluent were sterilized at 121˚C for 20 minutes then 60 ml were distributed in sterile 100 ml flasks according to the protocol used by Suseela and Muralidhar in 2018 [24]. Eight percent (8%) of each inoculum containing 106 cells/mL with an optical density of 1.2 at 600 nm was inoculated and then incubated at 30˚C for 5 days with stirring at 150 rpm in the presence of blank.…”