Journal of Environmental Biology

Removal of caffeine from industrial wastewater

using Trichosporon asahii

V.Lakshmi and Nilanjana Das*

Environmental Biotechnology Division, School of Bio Sciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore-632 014, India

*Corresponding Author email : nilanjana00@lycos.com

 Publication Data

 Paper received:

 31 December 2011

 Revised received:

 25 May 2012

 Accepted:

 04 August 2012

Abstract

Caffeine (1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine), a natural alkaloid present mainly in tea and coffee products has been suggested as an environmental pollutant. Decaffeination is an important process for the removal of caffeine from coffee industrial wastes. In the present study, caffeine removal (through degradation) by yeast isolate, Trichosporon asahii immobilized on various conventional matrices (sodium alginate, carboxymethyl cellulose, chitosan, agar and agarose) was investigated using the method of entrapment. The biofilm forming ability of T. asahii was monitored by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Exopolysaccharide produced by T. asahii biofilm was characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and HPLC analysis. Caffeine removal from coffee processing industrial effluent was found to be 75 and 80 % by alginate immobilized yeast and yeast biofilm formed on gravels over a period of 48 hr in batch mode. Effectiveness of the process was also tested involving the continuous - flow column studies.

Key words

Biofilm, Caffeine removal, Trichosporon asahii, Immobilization, Entrapment

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