Supporting data for identification of biosurfactant-producing bacteria isolated from agro-food industrial effluent

Protocol to select efficient microorganisms to treat coffee wastewater

The coffee processing wastewater (CPWW) requires treatment before being disposed of in the environment or reused due to its high organic and inorganic composition and a low pH. The indigenous microbiota from CPWW is highly diverse and could be selected as inoculums in treatment waste plants. Considering the physico-chemical characteristics of wastewater coffee, we elaborate on steps to select the microbial consortium that showed positive impact via decreasing the pollutant parameters of this effluent. The effectiveness was confirmed using wastewater from different origins with different chemical characteristics. A bacterial consortium composed by Serratia marcescens CCMA 1010 and CCMA 1012, Corynebacterium flavescens CCMA 1006, and Acetobacter indonesiensis CCMA 1002 was selected as the inoculums-based phenotypic assays. The mixed inoculum showed a highly active population (11.18 log CFU mL^-1), promoting an 85% decrease in biochemical oxygen demand and a 60% decrease in chemical oxygen demand. There was also an 80% reduction in phosphorus and nitrogen. The final pH changed from 6.0 to 7.5. Additionally, the eco-toxicity using Daphnia similis was reduced by more than 59%. The microbial inoculum was efficient in the biological treatment in CPWWs, demonstrating the efficiency and robustness of the selected strains, independent of the physico-chemical characteristics of wastewater.

Mass transfer kinetics of biosorption of nitrogenous matter from palm oil mill effluent by aerobic granules in sequencing batch reactor

Understanding of mass transfer kinetics is important for biosorption of nitrogen compounds from palm oil mill effluent (POME) to gain a mechanistic insight into future biological processes for the treatment of high organic loading wastewater. In this study, the rates of global and sequential mass transfer were determined using the modified mass transfer factor equations for the experiments to remove nitrogen by aerobic granular sludge accumulation in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The maximum efficiencies as high as 97% for the experiment run at [k_La]_g value of 1421.8 h^-1 and 96% for the experiment run at [k_La]_g value of 9.6 × 10³⁷ h^-1 were verified before and after the addition of Serratia marcescens SA30, respectively. The resistance of mass transfer could be dependent on external mass transfer that controls the transport of nitrogen molecule along the experimental period of 256 days. The increase in [k_La]_g value leading to increased performance of the SBR was verified to contribute to the future applications of the SBR because this phenomenon provides new insight into the dynamic response of biological processes to treat POME.

Diversity of microbiota found in coffee processing wastewater treatment plant

Cultivable microbiota presents in a coffee semi-dry processing wastewater treatment plant (WTP) was identified. Thirty-two operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were detected, these being 16 bacteria, 11 yeasts and 4 filamentous fungi. Bacteria dominated the microbial population (11.61 log CFU mL^- 1), and presented the highest total diversity index when observed in the WTP aerobic stage (Shannon = 1.94 and Simpson = 0.81). The most frequent bacterial species were Enterobacter asburiae, Sphingobacterium griseoflavum, Chryseobacterium bovis, Serratia marcescens, Corynebacterium flavescens, Acetobacter orientalis and Acetobacter indonesiensis; these showed the largest total bacteria populations in the WTP, with approximately 10 log CFU mL^- 1. Yeasts were present at 7 log CFU mL^- 1 of viable cells, with Hanseniaspora uvarum, Wickerhamomyces anomalus, Torulaspora delbrueckii, Saturnispora gosingensis, and Kazachstania gamospora being the prevalent species. Filamentous fungi were found at 6 log CFU mL^- 1, with Fusarium oxysporum the most populous species. The identified species have the potential to act as a biological treatment in the WTP, and the application of them for this purpose must be better studied.