Decolorization of CI Reactive Blue 222 by immobilized basidiomycetes in response to different carbon and nitrogen inputs

ABSTRACT Reactive dyes are found in the final effluents of the textile industry and cannot be removed by conventional treatment processes. The use of basidiomycetes appears to be an effective strategy to degrade dye molecules. In this paper, the parameters that favor decolorization of diazo dye were assessed using basidiomycetes immobilized in Luffa cylindrica. Different concentrations of saccharose and urea were assessed, in addition to the introduction of an enriched synthetic effluent. Results showed that the best decolorization occurred at the highest concentration of saccharose and the lowest of urea. It was observed a high biosorptive capacity of the solid support, which decreased when the effluent was enriched with saccharose and urea due to consequent increase in microbial activity. Using the enriched effluent, Pleurotus ostreatus decolorized about 70% within 48 hours, and Trametes villosa decolorized 58% after 240 hours. Peniophora cinerea did not respond to the conditions tested.