Production of Bioflocculant through Fermentation of Spoilt Orange Juice with Bacillus spp Isolated from Sediment of Local Clay Pot

Abstract

The biodegradable and non-toxic Bioflocculants have attracted considerable interest as alternative to non-biodegradable chemical flocculants. However, the cost of fermentation media for bioflocculant production and low flocculation efficiency is a major challenge. In this study, we grow Bacillus spp isolated from sediment of local clay pot on spoilt orange juice to produce bioflocculant. The culture supernatant of the bacilli grown on spoilt orange juice were screen for bioflocculant production using Jar test method and Kaolin clay suspension as model wastewater. The effect of pH and temperature on the bioflocculant production were also studied. The effect of cations on bioflocculation rate of the bioflocculant produced were tested via hybridization of the bioflocculant with the cations. The bioflocculation efficiency of the bioflocculant on sample wastewaters were also determined. The bacilli isolated initially had flocculation rate between 31.1±1.6 % to 76.4±1.2% when cultured on screening media. Bioflocculation rate peaked to 77.9% at 40 ^oC while the lowest flocculation rate (55.41%) was obtained at 25 ^oC.  The optimum bioflocculant production (about 78%) was recorded at pH 6 – 7 while the highest bioflocculant production (84.2%) was achieved at 96^th hour of incubation. Na⁺ and Fe³⁺ had serious inhibitory effect on the bioflocculant while K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Al³⁺ had less or no effect on the bioflocculant. The bioflocculant had up to 77.7% and 64.5 % on Kitchen wastewater and aquaculture wastewater. This study reveals the potential for utilization of spoilt orange juice as fermentable substrate for bioflocculant production especially if the fermentation conditions and flocculation parameters are well optimized.