Studies on the Efficiency of Eudrilus eugeniae in the Bioconversion of Tamarind Fruit Shell Waste Mixed with Diclofenac and Bisphenol-A

Abstract

Background: Agricultural chemicals, metals, industrial effluents, plastics, excessive dumping of unused and expired pharmaceutical chemicals etc. contaminate terrestrial, aquatic and aerial environment. The excessive usage of the unwanted chemicals elicits undesirable effects in the non target organism inhabited in the various environments. The soil biota like earthworm faces threats of the environmental contaminants. A number of research works has been carried out to study the impact of certain environmental pollutants on the terrestrial inhabitant like earthworms which are widely utilized in the waste disposal management. Tamarind shell waste is considered one of the unwanted materials dumped in the road side and being discharged from industry and from the houses. The bio waste is now a day’s utilized for various purposes. The environmental contaminants such as diclofenac and bisphenol-A are discharged into the environment and finally reach the terrestrial environment where the inhabitants are adversely affected. Hence the study has been focused to analyze the efficiency of earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae in the conversion of tamarind shell waste mixed separately with Diclofenac and bisphenol-A. Methods: Vermibed was prepared for the present work. The vermibed contains cow dung and garden soil which are common in all the pots. One pot was considered as control. The second pot was mixed with tamarind shell waste. The third pot was mixed with diclofenac and finally in the last pot bisphenol-A was taken. Healthy earworms were selected and released to the four pots. The experimental set up was maintained for 30 days. Correlation matrix and t-test was performed to understand the significance of the results.Result: The study revealed the impact of pollutants on the bioconversion of tamarind shell waste. The contaminants like diclofenac and bisphenol-A significantly decreased the micro and macro nutrient levels. The phosphorous, nitrogen and potassium level showed a decrease when compared to control on 30th day in the diclofenac treatment. The nitrogen value was also decreased in the bisphenol-A treated compost on 30th day and the value was statistically significant. The other nutrients, phosphorous and iron were also decreased significantly (P less than 0.05) in the treatment and correlation matrix showed positive and negative correlation with micro and macro nutrients. The physico-chemical characters such as pH and electrical conductivity are also altered in the experimental conditions.

Evaluation of the Concentration of Phytotoxic Chemicals and Microbial Load of the Vermicompost Prepared from Coffee Processing Waste

“…As cow dung increases the presence of microorganism content in the compost was also used in this research which was collected from Nakoor Sirankala. [20]. In this research earthworm, Eudrilus eugiensis was purchased from Ganapathi Nursery, Upputhodu, Somvarpet, and Coorg.…”

“…Eudrilus eugeniae The earthworm, Eudrilus eugeniae shown in Fig 3 belongs to the phylum Annelida, class: Clitellata, and family: Eudrilidae, which is commonly known as the "African Night Crawler". The worm is a great model for cell and molecular biological experiments[20]. In this research earthworm, Eudrilus eugiensis was purchased from Ganapathi Nursery, Upputhodu, Somvarpet, and Coorg.…”

Assessment of Toxicity of Lead and Nickel on the Biochemical and Immunological Parameters of Earthworm, Eudrilus eugeniae

“…Among other soil-dwelling organisms, earthworms occupy an essential place in the soil ecosystem as they control key soil processes such as pedogenesis, soil structure, nutrient cycling, decomposition of organic matter, water infiltration and bioremediation of toxic chemicals (Giraddi et al, 2008;Kumar et al, 2020). Because of their close contact with the soil and sensitivity to soil pollution, they are particularly affected and can be considered as potential bio-indicators of soil pollution (Yang et al, 2017;Ramesh et al, 2022). The main route of exposure of earthworms to these metals is either through their highly permeable skin or by ingestion of soil particles (Jatwani et al, 2016).…”