APPLICATION OF Euglena sp. ISOLATED FROM YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA ON NUTRIENT REMOVAL FROM PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT (POME)

Abstract

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) was the main source of liquid waste in Indonesia. It could be utilized as microalgae medium. Euglena sp., fast-growing microalgae, produces high-value product metabolites. In this research, POME is used as a culture medium because of its rich macronutrients and micronutrient content.In addition, POME also contains high Biological Oxygen Demands (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demands (COD). This research was conducted to study BOD and COD in POME after and before treatment, growth rate, biomass and content of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins in Euglena sp. that was cultured in a POME medium. Euglena sp. cultured in Cramer-Myers (CM) medium was used as control. POME medium concentrations used in this research were 0.50%, 0.75%, 1.00% and 1.25%. The results showed that Euglena sp. was able to reduce BOD and COD. Medium 1.25% POME was the best treatment for nutrient removal, growth, and nutritional value. Based on the Logistic modelling, the highest specific growth rate (µ) was achieved in 1.25% POME with µ 0.6894 day and R 2 0.99.