Bioremediation and Green Technologies

Water hyacinth,  a worst aquatic weed and also a right candidate for pollutant removal, was collected from  four different locations. Our work aimed to study the influence of water quality over the anatomical and histochemical features of water hyacinth from four water bodies. A significant difference in the size of the plant, size of the different cells in leaf, petiole and root was observed between the locations. Histochemicals were localized in the hypodermal, cortical and in some cases, stellar region of parts of water hyacinth. Water quality parameters such as pH, temperature, chloride and sulphate content of the water samples varied between locations.

Anthropogenic activities viz. modern agricultural practices, industrialization and mining have long term detrimental effects on environment. All these factors lead to the increase in heavy metal concentration in both hydrosphere and lithosphere. The extreme use of chemical fertilizers in agricultural field possesses a major threat to human and animal health and also causes various environmental hazards. The utilization of the chemical fertilizers can be reduced through biological aspects. Rhizosphere bacterial community is majorly involved in the plant growth and colonized in root zones of the plants with enhanced symbiotic relationship with plant community. These bacteria support the plant growth at normal and stressed conditions. These naturally occurring bacteria will pave a way to minimize the use of chemical fertilizers and hence in reducing the risk hazards. Plant-soil-root ecosystem is an important interface between soil and plants and also plays a significant role in the biosorption of heavy metals from contaminated soils. The rhizobacteria dwelling in this soil are known to affect heavy metal mobility and availability to the growing plant through the release of chelating agents, acidification, phosphate solubilization and redox changes, therefore having tremendous potentials to enhance the bioremediation processes. Bioremoval strategies with appropriate heavy metal-adapted rhizobacteria have received considerable importance. This chapter aims to reveal the sources of heavy metals and its effects on various life forms with special emphasis on PGPR assisted mechanisms for bioremoval of heavy metals from heavy metal implicated sites in the environment.

The study aims to analyse the bacterial pattern, to isolate the bacteria from polluted soil site and to identify the bacteria using 16s rDNA gene sequencing. The present research is carried out to isolate and identify the bacteria using molecular study. The bacteria is isolated using plating agar. The DNA extracted and PCR carried out. Further, the gene sequence was analyzed and the sequence was submitted to NCBI and accession number was allotted as MT126476. The bacteria identified as Enterobacter cloacae, the current interest in using omics technologies for elucidating the microbial diversity from potential contaminated site for harnessing microorganism for potential bioremediation perspectives.

The sugar mill is the backbone of rural, agricultural, and socio-economic development in India. Many industries are directly or indirectly dependent on the sugar industry which in turn is responsible for the overall development of the state. The discharge of this effluent into water bodies or on the soil causes serious problem of water pollution resulting in severe damage to the flora and fauna and further environmental degradation. The study focuses on the impact of sugar mill effluent on groundwater used for domestic purpose. The quality of groundwater was studied for the period January–December 2019. In this analysis, the parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, temperature, alkalinity, hardness, chloride, total solids, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, dissolved oxygen and chemical oxygen demand were studied in the closest proximity of 1–1.5 km from the sugar mill as per Environmental Impact Assessment guidelines (Central pollution control board). The results reveal a significant variation in samples of the same parameters. The study shows that water quality parameters nearby the sugar industry exceeds the permissible limits.

The degradation of lignin, holocellulose and hot water soluble content of Pinus radiata needle leaf, twig and bark by wood degrading fungi was studied in virgin forest ecosystem of Doddabetta, Nilgiris for a period of 180 days. The study revealed that the maximum percentage of lignin degradation of needle leaf material with Heterobasidium annosum was 8.8, twig with the same fungus was 18.3, and the bark with 19.5. For holocellulose needle leaf degradation with a maximum of 10.3 for Thelopora terrestris fungus for twig with the same fungi shows 12.1 and for bark Polyporus squamosus with 16.9 of degradation. Hot water soluble content was maximum of 18.7% with Colricia perennis fungus for the needle leaf, for twig 10.5% for the same fungi and for bark with 9.0% for Polyporus squamosus for a period of 180 days. The elemental status of mixed samples of needle leaf, twig and bark constitute the forest litter of P. radiata were inoculated with H. annosum, T. terrestris, P. squamosus and C. perennis mycelia. The SEM–EDX analysis revealed the maximum availability of elements at 180 days of degradation when compared with initial stage.

In earth, water is considered as one of the most valuable substance for living organisms for their healthy growth. Due to rapid industrialization and its advancement, in many occasions, thousands of living organisms die because of discharge of effluent/polluted water from various industries to the environment. Among the pollutants, textile industries effluents are the major causative agent damaging the ecosystem and water system in the environment significantly. Presently, almost one million tons of dyes are utilized in textile industry, whereas about 10% of dyes are released to the environment without effective effluent treatment. Among the different types of dyes, azo dyes are most predominant one in the textile industry and these azo dyes are not easily degraded by bacteria. These effluent wastewaters from azo dye textile units can deteriorate the ecosystem, quality of water, generate the pollution, eutrophication, interruption of aquatic life and can cause different disorders to the human health. In addition, metabolic intermediates of these dyes are mutagenic and carcinogenic; it can cause severe damage to different organs of the human body. Several physico-chemical techniques are utilized to treat this effluent. However, each technique has its own limitations, generating toxic and secondary waste products leading to critical situations. Recently, removal of dye from the effluent by biological method has gained much importance because of its sustainable approach, non-toxic, treatment cost effectiveness and ecofriendly in managing the pollution. In biological method, different biological elements such as microorganisms including fungi, bacteria, yeast, algae, actinobacteria and plants are utilized and it can be applicable to contaminated sites. Among the above biological elements, plants have been considered as one of potential as well as economical element in the dye effluent treatment. Consequently, successful enactment of this biological treatment can provide valuable protection this environment from this textile industry dye effluent wastewater. In this chapter, remediation techniques with respect to this textile dye effluent wastewater have been discussed deeply in order to protect and maintain this environment sustainably in near future.

Dyes released by the textile industries pose a threat to the environmental safety. Recently, dye decolorization through biological means has gained impetus as these are cheap and can be applied to wide range of dyes. The main focus of the present investigation is to evaluate the bioremediation potential of Aspergillus flavus isolated from textile dye contaminated soil for the decolorization of synthetic acid dyes. Among the isolated four fungal strains namely Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizopus sp. and Aspergillus terrus, Aspergillus flavus was capable of decolorising 96 and 97% for Acid Blue (AB) 193 and Acid Violet (AV) 90, respectively under optimum conditions of pH 6.0 and temperature 25 °C. Hence from the results, it can be concluded that this fungus can be used as eco-friendly and economically effective tool to decolorize textile dye effluents.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the silver nanoparticle synthesized using leaf extract of Prosopis juliflora. For possible dye degradation and antibacterial activity on Gram positive and gram-negative bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas putida). The acetone extract showed good anti-bacterial activity against both the organisms, the inhibitory effect increased with increase in concentration of the extract. The presence of Silver Nanoparticles in the leaf extract was observed by reduction of silver ions into silver nanoparticles. Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) analysis was done to detect the functional groups which will promote the antibacterial and dye degradation capabilites.

Nitrate (NO₃⁻) contamination in drinking water is regulated by environmental agencies around the world since it causes health problems at higher concentrations. NO₃⁻removal in drinking water has been a challenge for a long time. Microbial denitrification is one of the promising processes for remediation of NO₃⁻ from contaminated samples. In the present study, the effect of various carbon sources, temperatures, pH and inoculum concentrations on the removal of NO₃⁻ was first investigated using assimilatory NO₃⁻ reducing bacterial consortium (Pseudomonas sp. KW1 and Bacillus sp. YW4) in Mineral Salts Medium (MSM) containing 100 mg/Lof NO₃⁻. Starch at 1%, temperature at 30^oCand pH at 7 and 1% of inoculum concentration were found to be optimum. Monod and Haldane kinetic models were applied to evaluate the rate of nitrate removal by bacteria. Further, Friedman test was used to determine the role of each factor on degradation process. Second phase of experiments was studied in drinking water using a pilot scale treatment plant and the results showed that the consortium (KW1 and YW4), reduced nitrate to a level at 92% (100–8 mg/L) and verified with statistical test. Further, boiling, ultraviolet radiations, filtration by adsorption and chlorination methods were evident for consecutive elimination of microorganisms from the treated water.

Sugar industry pollutes air, water and soil that different types of advanced pollution control technologies were used to reduce the pollution levels to permissible limits. But still Sugar industry manages to recycle and reuse its by-products based on the “concept of industrial ecology” on its own production premises in a holistic positive environmental management approach. Due to the production totally based on agricultural products using “biomass”, which is organic from the starting till the end of the product, there is a total life cycle assessment (LCA). Recycling of products like water recycling in a closed loop water saving system, molasses reuse, Co-generation (energy conservation), variable frequency drives (VFD), cane cutting, bagasse, press muds, composting using sludge are few methods followed in this unit. Sugar industry cost variables Economic and environmental variables, older (Conventional) and newer (Cleaner) technology and their negative and positive advantages were compared. Variables like capital cost, variable cost, viability period of the equipment, depreciation cost, buy back cost, benefit cost and environmental benefits like energy in (kWh) per year, water in liters per year and other recycling process like “Add-on” and “Process change” technologies are taken in consideration. The main objective is to focus on the cost aspects between the two technologies, conventional and cleaner technology in pollution control. This was carried out by comparing cost benefit analysis and Return on Investment (ROI) for the old and clean technologies. The other parameter compared was cost benefit liter per year using cleaner recycling leading to environmental advantage. There are nine technologies used in this industry that has been analyzed.

The cement industry pollutes air, water and soil to control pollution using different types of advanced pollution control technologies to reduce the pollution levels and achieve permissible limits. But still, Cement industry manages to recycle and reuse its (Co-processing) by-products based on the “concept of industrial ecology” on its own production premises in a holistic positive environmental management approach. Due to the production totally based on mining products from “fossil fuels” like calcium carbonate, Gypsum. Co-generation (energy conservation, variable frequency drives (VFD), Cement industry cost variables Economic and environmental variables, older (Conventional) and newer (Cleaner) technology and their negative and positive advantages were compared. Variables like capital cost, variable cost, viability period of the equipment, depreciation cost, buy back cost, benefit cost and environmental benefits like energy in kWh per year, water in liters per year and other recycling process like “Add-on” and “Process change” technologies are taken in consideration. The main objective is to focus on the cost aspects between the two technologies, conventional and cleaner technology in pollution control. This was carried out by comparing cost benefit analysis and Return on Investment (ROI) for the old and clean technologies. There are nine technologies used in this industry that has been analyzed.

Contaminated food stuff is a potential source of bacteria with interest encompassing mirid attributes prompting their exploitation in assorted applications including environment domain like degradation of waste and discarded food. Street food has bacterial contamination like Salmonella sp., Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus sp., Mostly non-significance bacteria are present in the street foods but still point to environmental contamination, in this work food samples were collected and serially diluted, isolated confirmed using different media. The isolation and identification process were done to know and characterise the bacteria via 16 s rRNA gene sequence and the DNA these further elucidated via BLAST search engine.

Packaging plays a very important role in our daily life especially when buying commodities from a retail or a wholesale store. The importance of packaging is when items are shipped around the world, which in recent years is on a daily basis. Though packaging ensures the safety and durability of the merchandise and carries the brand name of the seller, it leads to accumulated waste where most of these conventional packing materials cannot be recycled. With the large amount of companies transporting goods from factories to warehouses and then to retailers, as well as the enormous online orders placed daily, there is a massive amount of plastic waste such as Styrofoam, cardboard, and paper that are utilized in the process. However, sustainable packaging is a boon to this problem, which is referred to as Green packaging; it offers an environmental friendly alternative playing a great role in protecting products, preventing waste and enabling efficient business conduct promoting environmental sustainability. Sustainable packaging is made by recycling materials thereby reducing the waste during production or raw material processing. The manufacturing process of such packaging materials also tends to be more efficient, further minimizing resources needed and reducing the negative impact that the business has on the environment. Sustainable packaging is produced in an environmentally friendly manner through the use and reuse of biodegradable and recyclable materials and is considered energy efficient. As a part of Corporate Social Responsibility, sustainable packaging is a relatively new addition to the environmental considerations, where, reduced as well as ecofriendly material for packaging provide an attractive opportunity to promote environmental sustainability. Industries, Promoters and Companies using such packaging material not only reduce their carbon footprint but campaign the use of recycled materials minimizing waste generation. Through this, it is indirectly aimed at preserving the world’s ecosystems, improving human life quality and viability for a longer period. Moreover, sustainable packaging is economically viable for both consumers and manufacturers additionally ensuring a cleaner environment for the future generations.

The study is to understand the physico-chemical characteristics and different applications of sugar mill effluent considered compared with (permissible limits) standards given by the Tamilnadu pollution control board (TNSPCB) towards treated effluent water for agricultural irrigation purpose from a point source. The effluent was used in the application of seed germination and seedling growth on fenugreek (Trigonella foenumgraecum) and mustard (Brassica nigra) in five different concentrations (10, 25, 50, 75, and 100%). The seeds of fenugreek and mustard shows maximum germination of 95 and 80% growth in effluent irrigated soil. The result shows water and the soil irrigated with 10% effluent were found most suitable for germination. The morphological parameters such as germination percentage, shoot length, root length, fresh weight, and dry weight of seedlings and seed vigor index were calculated. The seed germination and growth parameters increased in lower (10%) concentration of sugar mill effluent and these morphological parameters gradually decreased with increasing effluent concentration. The less amount (10%) concentration of sugar mill effluent may be used for irrigation purposes.

Aquaculture is a fastest growing, effervescent food producing sector with an annual growth rate of about 10% globally. At present, fin fish and shell fish are the major cog of coastal aquaculture and are now considered as an important source of protein available for human consumption. Despite such progressive growth, the production from aquaculture was hampered by emerging bacterial diseases, resulting in immense mortalities and usher to severe economic losses worldwide. Emerging bacterial disease problems have overwhelmed the aquaculture industry in the past and continue to menace it. Intensification of aquatic animal cultivation has added to the headway of numerous diseases like vibriosis, motile aeromonad septicemia, necrotizing hepatopancreatitis, hemorrhagic septicemia and early mortality syndrome. Subsequently, the unsystematic usage of antimicrobial and other therapeutic agents results in the development of resistance among bacterial pathogens and made the existing treatment measures futile. Increased contamination of the aquaculture with bacterial pathogens has paved the way for efficient approaches which can be applied for environmental restoration. Now, quorum sensing inhibitors are the candidate molecules of choice chosen as the best alternatives in bioremediation process to the existing antimicrobial agents. They act as natural immune enhancers, which hassle the development of drug resistance among bacterial pathogens. This review present an overview of the existing major bacterial diseases in aquaculture sector and endow with an information on the deleterious impacts of antibiotics usage and novel alternative strategies for reducing the risk of antibiotic resistance mediated bacterial infections in aquaculture industry.

Cultivation of microalgae biomass for bioethanol production appeared as one of the potential solution to drive green and sustainable fuel production. Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganism that can grow rapidly compared to the terrestrial plants and able to accumulate high content of carbohydrate within their cells. The carbohydrate is usually stored in the form of starch, which is easier to breakdown to simple reducing sugar than lignocellulosic biomass. In the present chapter, the process route to produce bioethanol from microalgae biomass is discussed, including the cultivation strategies to enhance microalgae carbohydrate productivity, biomass pre-treatment methods, hydrolysis and fermentation process.

This work is an effort to create a means to establish environment sustainability through QR code tagging to trees. In this digital era, with increased usage of smartphones, tablets and the availability of these devices at a lower cost motivated us to adopt QR code tagging for obtaining detailed information about the flora collection available in our college. The objective of this work is to tag each tree in the campus with QR Code and enable the students aware of all the facts and data about the tree from its scientific name to its medicinal and pharmaceutic potential along with other interesting information, by scanning the QR code put up on the tree using their smartphone. These codes can be easily accessed by anyone in the college so that it will help the student, faculty, and others to gain knowledge about the plants available in the college campus.