August, 2011 Research in Environment and Life Sciences 115 ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE COPY COPY COPY COPY COPY Decolourization of textile dye using Aspergillus flavus and Trichoderma viride M. Kannahi* and N. Uma P.G. and Research Department of Microbiology, Sengamala Thayaar Educational Trust Womens College, Sundarakkottai , Mannargudi-614 001, India *e-mail: Kannahisri79@gmail.com (Received: April 28, 2011; Revised received: August 25, 2011; Accepted: August 26, 2011) Abstract: This study presents microbial decolourization of textile dye through fungal strains which were collected from textile dye disposal area at Kumbakonam. The serial dilution method was used for isolation of fungi. The isolated fungi were identified as Aspergillus flavus and Trichoderma viride, Aspergillus flavus and Trichoderma viride dye decolourization ability were screened by using plating method. PDA broth was prepared and Aspergillus flavus and Trichoderma viride culture were inoculated and incubated at 27 o C for 72 hr. After 72 hr, blue and pink dyes were added. Trichoderma viride maximum decolourized the blue and pink colour dye respectively 84.5 and 86.0% compared with Aspergillus flavus. In this study, maximum dye decolourization was noted in Trichoderma viride packed column when compared with Aspergillus flavus packed column. Physico-chemical parameter of dye effluent was analyzed using standard manuals. Key words: Dye, Decolourization, Textile, Blue dye, Pink dye, Aspergillus flavus, Trichoderma viride  2011 RELS ISSN: 0974-4908 http://rels.comxa.com Res. Environ. Life Sci. rel_sci@yahoo.com 4(3) 115-118 (2011) Introduction Textile dyestuffs can be grouped into the following categories for an easier understanding. Acid dyes, direct dyes, azoic dyes, disperse dyes, sulphur dyes, ractive dyes, basic dyes, oxidation dyes, mordant dyes, vat dyes, optical dyes and solvent dyes.Dyeing is the process of applying colours to the fibre stock yarm on fubric. The dyeing is carried out with size, different dye classes, vat, direct, naphthal, sulphur dyes are used, dye waste water may contain colours which are extremely difficult to be removed by common waste treatment methods. A textile industry is one of the oldest types of industry in India, manufacturing different types of cloths. There are about 850 textile mills centered around big cities in India, manufacturing approximately 1600 million meters cloths. Dyes used in the textile industry are designed to resist faxing upon exposure to sweat, light, water, oxidizing agents and microbial attack. During processing, upto 15% of the total world textile dyes production (about 800,000 tons year) are released into the process water. Dye containing effluents are hardly decolorized by conventional biological wastewater treatments. In general, cationic dyes are found to be most toxic as compared to direct, vat and dispersed dyes. In the same way, dyes are harmful to microorganisms, which indirectly affect the biological treatments process. The best way for the removal of colour from effluent is chemical coagulation. Synthetic dyes are coloring agents mainly used in textile industries which generate a huge amount of waste water in the process of dying. It is estimate that these industries discharge around 28,000 tones of dyes world wide every year in the environment. Azo dyes are one of the oldest industrially synthesized organic compounds and represent the major group (60-70%) of the more than 10,000 dyes currently manufactured (Bras et al ., 2005) Biological effects of AZO dyes after biotransformation have been shown to be toxic and in some cases these compounds are carcinogen and mutagenic. Fungal organisms such as Phlebia tremellus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Tranmetes versicolor, Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus flavus and Trichoderma viride are also able to decolorize the dyes. Most studies have been limited to the decolourization of a single dye or even to mixtures of dyes. Nevertheless, a biodecolourization system must sustain its ability upon exposure to real wastewater conditions. Thus, this study investigates not only the decolourization of a synthetic wastewater but also faces the problem of dealing with a real dyeing waste water. The effects of pH, presence or absence of carbon source and different initial colour concentration on the decolorization process performed were determined. The fungus, Trichoderma harzianum has also been reported earliest for the degradation of textile dyes. In the present work, we have investigated microbial degradation / decolourization of textile dyes, bromophenol blue and congo red using a fungus, Aspergillus flavus. Algae have been studied in the field of decolourization of industrial effluents (Vijayaraghavan and Yun, 2008). This is due to the versatile ability of the algae to degrade, partially or completely various dyes. In recent years, these has been an alternative research of fungal decolourization of dye present in waste water, and supplement for present treatment process ( Ramya et al., 2007). Decolourization of textile dyes from fungi Aspergillus flavus and