Environmental applications of lactobacillus for protein recovery and biodegradation of recalcitrant chemical compounds

• Main Authors: Seesuriyachan P., Techapun C., Sasaki K.
• Format: Chapter
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=84892260065&origin=inward; http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/handle/6653943832/39212
• Institution: Chiang Mai University

In the past few decades concern about environmental issues has increasedconsiderably and the implementation of water management has shifted towards theincorporation of new technology for the protection of ecosystems and sustainabledevelopment. Treatment of contaminated wastewater using biological processes has beenwidely applied. At this point, a combination of conventional knowledge and advances intechnology has generated many new biological processes for wastewater treatment.In this chapter, a biological treatment for dairy wastewater using lactic acid bacteria(LAB), Lactobacillus in particular, causing solid-liquid separation via biocoagulation andflocculation was introduced. A method of applying fermented lactic acid to settle proteinin dairy effluent prior to the secondary treatment was demonstrated and a significantlowering in the organic load of these effluents was achieved. It was found thatLactobacilli are considerably more tolerant to low cytoplasmic pH than other groups oflactic acid bacteria. Sustained lactic fermentation was achieved by means of an ingenious fill-react-drain-idle sequence. This is a highly efficient new semi-continuous system, witha micro-aerobic sequencing batch reactor (micro-aerobic SBR), lactic fermentation wasachieved when Lactobacillus was used as a biocatalyst for dairy wastewater proteinrecovery and biodegradation of chemically recalcitrant compounds. This is alternative toother more costly chemical and biological treatments currently in use. Additionally,protein recovered from this process can be used as a probiotic feed replacing feedantibiotics and promoting health worldwide.This chapter gives the understanding of lactic acid bacteria in environmentalapplications by providing data on its potential for biodegrading recalcitrant compoundsand toxic substances, such as azo dyes, by Lactobacillus. © 2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.