Current Science

Atul P. Vanerkar ¹, Abhay B. Fulke ², Satish K. Lokhande ², Manisha D. Giripunje ³, Shanta Satyanarayan ³

Affiliations
1 National Institute of Miners’ Health, JNARDDC Campus, Wadi, Nagpur 440 023, IN
2 CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur 440 020, IN
3 Department of Environmental Science, Sevadal Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Nagpur 440 015, IN

Abstract

Globally, herbal pharmaceutical industries are among the leading pharmaceutical industries. They generate large volume of wastewater during processing and production, which is highly biodegradable in nature and cannot be discharged into environment as such. Hence efforts are being made to evaluate the toxicity of herbal pharmaceutical effluents using green algae Scenedesmus quadricauda. Physico-chemically treated effluents (PCTEs) as well as biologically treated effluents (BTEs) were observed after the application of S. quadricauda. Also, S. quadricauda showed higher growth rate after the addition of PCTE and BTE. The highest yield of algae was observed in BTE up to 15 days of incubation by synthesis of chlorophyll and cell metabolites, even with 10-100% dilution of effluents. The present study also discusses the evaluation of biotoxicity and recycling on herbal pharmaceutical wastewater along with heavy metal removal.

Keywords

Biotoxicity, Herbal Pharmaceutical Industry, Scenedesmus quadricauda, Wastewater.

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Najmuddin Mulani ¹, Abhay B. Fulke ¹, Edna D’Souza ¹, Anirudh Ram ¹, Aayushi Maloo ¹, Faraz Sayed ¹, S. N. Gajbhiye ¹

Affiliations
1 CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Lokhandwala Road, Four Bungalows, Andheri (West), Mumbai-400 053, IN

Abstract

The marine environment is open to large sources of toxic organic waste in the form of accidental oil spills. Therefore, it is important to study microbial degradation processes that help reduce the damage caused to the environment. Universally, oil spills produce enormous public anxiety and highlight the need for cost effective, indigenous and environmentally acceptable bioremediation technologies. In recent times, advanced remedial techniques have been opted, such as solidifying, skimming, controlled burning and bioremediation. The present study aimed to isolate crude oil-degrading marine bacteria from Vadinar coastal area of Gujarat, India. Among seven isolates, three potential bacterial strains were chosen for crude oil and petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) degradation, which were analysed by UV spectrophotometric and fluorometric analysis. These bacterial cultures were verified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and identified as Bacillus species. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out to confirm the evolutionary relationship with existing oil-degrading species. In the present study, drop collapse, oil spreading and emulsification assay were performed to detect biosurfactant production. Bacillus sp. NM1 KT354277 was capable of degrading 50% of PHCs at the end 72 h for one week under rotary incubation in ONR7a medium. Among the studied strains, Bacillus sp. NM3 KT354278 showed promising lipase activity, viz. 60.72 and 61.19 U ml^-1 for 2% of olive oil and tributyrin respectively. Thus, the present study explores indigenous marine isolates that could be utilized as a potential alternative for oilspill remediation in future.

Keywords

Bioremediation, Crude Oil, Lipase, Marine Bacterial Isolates, Spectrofluorometer.

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