A. ROHINI, V. UDHAYA RAJA AND A. RAJA*
Department of Microbiology, Selvam College of Arts & Science (Autonomous), Namakkal (Tamil Nadu), India
*(e-mail : rgtheertha@gmail.com; Mobile : )
(Received : November 30, 2018; Accepted : January 11, 2019)
ABSTRACT
Dyes released by the textile industries pose a threat to environmental quality. Decolourization of three
different textile azo dyes using fungi was studied and compared. The fungal isolates were identified as
Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, A. fumigatus, Rhizopus sp. and Penicillium sp. Investigations of decolourization
via A. flavus sp. have been proven effective. The per cent decolourization of all the tested dyes was studied
and observed that the isolate could decolourize the dye 70% at maximum of 300 ppm by 72 h. Highest
percentage of degradation was achieved against reactive red by A. flavus and Penicillium sp. followed by
yellow. A potential isolate was obtained from textile sludge collected from local textile industry around
Erode. The isolate was characterized as A. flavus. It was tested for its dye decolourizing ability with seven
most common reactive dyes. Various parameters such as pH, carbon source agitation and dye concentration
were analyzed to get the maximum decolourization. Biomass was observed to linearly increase the glucose
with pH 8 and percentage decolourization increased linearly followed by biosorption till 48 h and reached
maximum 70% decolourization up to 300 ppm under 72 h. Several other strains exhibited a least
decolourization of multiple types of dyes. Effective degradation by two fungal strains suggested that a
biotransformation process occurred through fungal biodegradation.
Key words : Azo compound, biosorption, ppm, static, dye