Bioflocculants are natural polymers derived from diverse microorganisms and have come into focus because of their biodegradation potential, nontoxic nature, and excellent efficiency in flocculation. Recent works have shown that agricultural waste materials such as rice husk, corn cob, and potato starch wastewater can be considered for microorganism proliferation that can yield more bioflocculants. These bioflocculants are naturally synthesized by various microorganisms, have many desirable properties, including being biodegradable, safe as well as capable of removing relatively large amounts of suspended solids and pollutants present in effluents. Various wastewater types and sewage effluents, for instance, industrial and household sewage, were treated with these bioflocculants, which were effective in removing turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and biological oxygen demand (BOD). The current performance of bioflocculants is aimed to be documented in this chapter based on the eco-friendly, including agricultural waste as a substrate, screening and optimization of microbial strains, and innovations in fermentation technology. Recent works showed that using inexpensive substrates (e.g., starch-processing wastewater and some agricultural residues) as a carbon source to produce bioflocculants not only increased yield but also lowered production cost. Furthermore, advancements in genetic engineering and microbial consortia have demonstrated the potential to enhance the production efficiency of flocculants. Nonetheless, difficulties still challenge such processes of manufacturing, including growing variability of substrate composition, issues of legal regulation, as well as the need for up-scaled production formats.
