International Journal of Biological Technology (2010) 1(1):43-46. © Gayathri Teknological Publication 43 Original Article Fluoride Removal from water by Sorbing on Plant and Fungal Biomass Rajneesh Prajapat 1 , Ashish Bhatnagar 1 , Rajarshi Kumar Gaur 2 , Vivek Bajpai 2 1 Department of Biotechnology, Sobhsaria Engineering College, Sikar-332001 (Rajasthan) India Email: prajapat_rajneesh@rediffmail.com 1 Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer, Rajasthan 2 Department of Science, Mody Institute of Technology and Science Lakshmangarh, Rajasthan, India Received: 16.11.2009; Revised: 27.3.2010 Accepted: 10.3.2010; Published: 15.4.2010 Abstract The capacity of microbial biomass to remove hazardous element from aqueous solution even after being killed has been well documented. Such material could be used to decontaminate waste water originating from industries involved mining, refining, nuclear fuel processing etc. The present study identified saw dust, Aspergillus penicilloides and Mucor racemosus as potential biomaterial for calcium and fluoride removal. Maximum Ca 2+ sorption was observed in saw dust however Aspergillus penicilloides and Mucor racemosus provide themselves as the better agent for f – removal after Ca 2+ treatment. This proves that the cations on the surface of biomass may be used to removal anions that are not usually removed as the cell envelops carry negative charges or their surface. Biosorption can therefore provide a technical answer to control pollution due to permissible, illegal and accidental discharge and hence may become an essential implement for environmental protection. Keywords: Biomass, Biosorption, Aspergillus penicilloides, Mucor racemosus Introduction There has been an ever increasing global concern about the fluoride anion, an excess of which can inflict numerous toxic effects on many biological systems (Bhatnagar and Bhatnagar 2000; Pushink and Miller 1990; Tsezos and Bell 1989) .Microalgal biomass has been extensively studied as a biosorbent for various heavy metals (Holan, Volesby and Prasetyo 1993; Wilde and Benemann 1993) and hazardous substances (Liu and Wu 1993; Tsezos Bell 1989) however being negatively charged surface it cannot absorb sufficient anions. Phosphate supply could modify flocculation and adsorption behavior in growing Corynebacterium glutamicum (Buch, Mozes, Wandrey and Rouxhet 1998). Fluoride sorption using a technique to pretreat surface with Ca 2+ (Bhatnagar, Bhatnagar and Jha 2002). Biosorption removal of fluoride if possible, shall become an alternative or adjunct method the conventional technology of fluoride removal. In view of this, in the proposed study, fungal biomass and saw dust were used to pretreat with cations and find if fluoride removal may be affected using this technique. Materials and Methods Aspergillus penicilloides and Mucor racemosus were grown in Asthana and Hawker’s (AH) medium-A (Asthana and Hawker 1936). The pH of medium was adjusted to 7.0 + 0.1 with 0.1N NaOH or 0.1N HCl. Aseptically 1 ml culture from the growing phase was inoculated in 20-25 ml of AH medium in 100 ml Erlenmeyer flask and incubated for 2-3 days at 34 + 1°C temperature. Asthana and Hawker (AH) medium-A (Asthana and Hawker 1936) D Glucose 5.00g KNO 3 3.50g KH 2 PO 4 1.75g MgSO 4 7H 2 O 0.75g Distilled Water 1000ml Harvesting the biomass The biomass was obtained by centrifugation of growing culture at 8,000 r.p.m for 15 minutes followed by washing with double distilled water, recentrifugation and finely drying at 60º C for 72 hours in an incubator. It was than crushed using mortar and pestle to obtain a uniform powder. culture tube, washed thoroughly in running tap water before transplanting into small polycups containing mixture of sterilized sand and garden soil and irrigated with 1/10 diluted liquid MS medium and covered with poly bags for in vitro hardening. After hardening in polycups they were subsequently transferred to 15 cm diameter pots containing, sand and compost (2:1:1) and maintained under mist irrigation. Then they were shifted for field planting. Experiments were