FUNGAL AND ALGAL DIVERSITY IN SUGAR MILL EFFLUENT AND BIOREMEDIATION USING FUNGAL CONSORTIUM

Abstract

The quality of the air, water, soil, and the entire ecosystem at large has been deteriorated by industrial pollution. One of the most important agro-based industries in India is the sugar mill. The sugar mill is also a great source of contamination too. Biodiversity of fungi and algae in the sugar mill effluent was examined and found fungi such as Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. luchensis, A. niger, A .oryzae, A. terrreus, Fusarium oxysporum, Helminthosporium oryzae, Penicillium citrinum and Trichoderma sp and the consortium of the same has the potential to bio remediate the collected sugar mill effluent. Nineteen different algal genera was identified in different purposed sugar mill effluent and external water has served a good nutrient for more number of genera (13 genus) compared with other sources. From Aringar Anna sugar mill, Kurungulam the effluent has been collected and by using the standard methods, the physicochemical properties of the sugar mill effluent was analysed. Bioremediation of the sugar mill effluent is done by immobilizing the fungal consor tium as beds in the column. The sugar collected mill effluent was inoculated with immobilized beds with 5% of fungal consortium, and air was passed continuously using an aerator. Under aseptic conditions, the sample was subjected to filtration and the parameters of the physicochemical analysis were estimated after 3 and 6 weeks. A high BOD, COD, TSS, TDS, chloride, sulfate and oil 8 grease was found in the analysis of the physicochemical properties of the raw sugar mill effluent. After the three weeks of treatment with immobilized fungal consortium, drastic reduction of all the parameters studied were recorded.