Journal of Hazardous Materials 189 (2011) 486–494 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Hazardous Materials journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhazmat Decolorization of adsorbed textile dyes by developed consortium of Pseudomonas sp. SUK1 and Aspergillus ochraceus NCIM-1146 under solid state fermentation Avinash A. Kadam a , Amar A. Telke b , Sujit S. Jagtap c , Sanjay P. Govindwar d,∗ a Department of Biotechnology, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416004, India b Division of Applied Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea c Division of Chemical & Bioengineering, Konkuk University, 1 Hwayang-Dong, South Korea d Department of Biochemistry, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416004, India article info Article history: Received 22 December 2010 Received in revised form 12 February 2011 Accepted 18 February 2011 Available online 26 February 2011 Keywords: Pseudomonas sp. SUK1 Aspergillus ochraceus NCIM-1146 Textile industry wastewater Chemical precipitate of textile dye effluent (CPTDE) Biodegradation Decolorization abstract The objective of this study was to develop consortium using Pseudomonas sp. SUK1 and Aspergillus ochraceus NCIM-1146 to decolorize adsorbed dyes from textile effluent wastewater under solid state fermentation. Among various agricultural wastes rice bran showed dye adsorption up to 90, 62 and 80% from textile dye reactive navy blue HE2R (RNB HE2R) solution, mixture of textile dyes and textile industry wastewater, respectively. Pseudomonas sp. SUK1 and A. ochraceus NCIM-1146 showed 62 and 38% decolorization of RNB HE2R adsorbed on rice bran in 24 h under solid state fermentation. How- ever, the consortium of Pseudomonas sp. SUK1 and A. ochraceus NCIM-1146 (consortium-PA) showed 80% decolorization in 24 h. The consortium-PA showed effective ADMI removal ratio of adsorbed dyes from textile industry wastewater (77%), mixture of textile dyes (82%) and chemical precipitate of textile dye effluent (CPTDE) (86%). Secretion of extracellular enzymes such as laccase, azoreductase, tyrosinase and NADH-DCIP reductase and their significant induction in the presence of adsorbed dye suggests their role in the decolorization of RNB HE2R. GCMS and HPLC analysis of product suggests the different fates of biodegradation of RNB HE2R when used Pseudomonas sp. SUK1, A. ochraceus NCIM-1146 and consortium PA. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction More than 10,000 different synthetic dyes are widely used in textile processing industry for dyeing and printing purposes. The fixation rate of synthetic dyes is not 100%, thus they enter into the environment as wastewater. The dye concentrations in the textile processing wastewaters are in the range of 10–200 mg l -1 . As dyes are designed to be chemically and photolytically stable, they are highly persistent in natural environment. The release of dye con- taining wastewater in the natural environment may cause ecotoxic hazards [1]. Direct discharge of huge amount of industrial efflu- ent in combination with increasingly stringent legislation; makes the search for appropriate treatment technologies an important priority [2]. Many industries have used conventional physical and chemi- cal methods such as chemical precipitation, membrane filtration, coagulation, adsorption, and electrolysis for the treatment of tex- tile industry wastewater [3–7]. These methods are not destructive ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 231 2609152; fax: +91 231 2691533. E-mail addresses: spg biochem@unishivaji.ac.in, spgovindwar@rediffmail.com (S.P. Govindwar). but they only transfer the contaminants from one form to another, therefore, a new and different kind of pollution problem is being faced which intern calls for further treatment [8–10]. Out of these all techniques chemical precipitation is most common at Ichalka- ranji, India and produce highly recalcitrant textile dye precipitate as chemical precipitate of textile dye effluent (CPTDE). Although, these methods are effective, they suffer from shortcomings such as high cost, formation of hazardous by-products and high energy requirements. Due to these disadvantages, many researchers have tried to develop eco-friendly biological methods for the treatment of industrial effluent. Bacteria and fungi are widely used for decolorization of textile dyestuff and textile industry wastewater. The biodegradation abil- ity of bacteria is associated with its intracellular and extracellular oxidoreductive enzyme system such as laccase, azoreductase and NADH-DCIP-reductase [11]. However, the biodegradation ability of fungi is associated with its extracellular oxidoreductive enzymes such as lignin peroxidase, laccase, and tyrosinase [12]. The ear- lier reports showed textile dyes degradation potential of bacterium Pseudomonas sp. SUK1 and fungi Aspergillus ochraceus NCIM-1146 [13–16] under submerged condition. A consortium favors the use of products formed by one organism by another organism so as to mineralize the complex dye structures in to non-toxic compo- 0304-3894/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.02.066