Lignin Biodegradation in Pulp-and-Paper Mill Wastewater by Selected White Rot Fungi

Abstract

An investigation has been carried out to explore the lignin-degrading ability of white rot fungi, as B. adusta and P. crysosporium, grown in different media containing (i) glucose and mineral salts; (ii) a dairy residue; (iii) a dairy residue and mineral salts. Both fungi were then used as inoculum to treat synthetic and industrial pulp-and-paper mill wastewater. On synthetic wastewater, up to 97% and 74% of lignin degradation by B. adusta and P. crysosporium, respectively, have been reached. On industrial wastewater, both fungal strains were able to accomplish 100% delignification in 8-10 days, independent from pH control, with a significant reduction of total organic carbon (TOC) of the solution. Results have confirmed the great biotechnological potential of both B. adusta and P. crysosporium for complete lignin removal in industrial wastewater, and can open the way to next industrial applications on large scale.

Review on the Biological Degradation of Polymers in Various Environments

“…Correspondingly, pulp decomposes faster in fresh water and sewage sludge, even in the case of industrial wastewater with high lignin content. In particular, the enzymes of various fungi are able to fully utilize pulp [ 89 ].…”

Bio-Delignification of Green Waste (GW) in Co-Digestion with the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) to Enhance Biogas Production

“…The white-rot fungi have been found to produce extracellular peroxidases and laccases, which usually appear in response to nutrient depletion [55]. The best characterized white-rot fungus is Phanerochaete chrysosporium, since the discovery of the lignin peroxidase from this fungus by Tien and Kirk [56] and Glenn et al [57]. Recently, some information has become available in the literature on Bjerkandera adusta, which is now considered a promising candidate for further studies on bio-delignification, because it can produce a large amount of lignin peroxidases, similar to P. chrysosporium, but also manganese peroxidase, versatile peroxidase, and laccase, all highly effective at decomposing lignocellulose substrates [58,59].…”

Comparison of pulp sludge compost effectivity of three different decomposers to the growth of geronggang (Cratoxylon arborescens) seedlings

“…Dalam limbah pulp, kadar lignin tergolong tinggi, dicirikan dengan warna limbah yang berwarna hitam. P. chrysosprorium mendegradasi lignin dengan memproduksi enzim lignin peroxidase (LiP) dan mangan peroxidase (MnP) (Costa et al, 2017). Menurut Falade et al (2017), mekanisme aksi dari MnP adalah sebagai katalitik oksidasi dari Mn 2+ menjadi Mn 3+ yang sangat reaktif sehingga dapat mengoksidasi sebagian besar material phenolik, termasuk struktur lignin phenolic.…”