Assessment of the decolourization ability of Phanerochaete chrysosporium towards different sugar colourants

Abstract

The ability of Phanerochaete chrysosporium to degrade the colourants present in a sugar refinery effluent: caramels, melanoidins and alkaline degradation products of reducing sugars (ADP's), was studied. The fungus was incubated with each type of colourant and decolourization was evaluated. Little or no decolourization was observed in high-nitrogen cultures, in which no LIP and MNP activities were detected. All of the cultures grown under nitrogen limiting conditions showed a high decolourization ability for the different colourants, caramels being the most degraded ones. MNP, but not LIP, activity, was detected in these cultures, indicating that MNP plays a key role in decolourization.