Decolorization of some azo dyes by immobilized Geotrichum sp. biomass in fluidized bed bioreactor

Geotrichum sp. strain, which is able to decolorize azo dyes enzymatically, was used in this study for decolorization of synthetics solutions contaminated by toxic azo dyes orange G, trypan blue, azorubine, and methyl red. The biomass of Geotrichum sp. was immobilized in calcium alginate and polyacrylamide gels and used for the decolorization of tested azo dyes in fluidized bed bioreactor. The highest specific decolorization rate was obtained when the fungal biomass was entrapped in calcium alginate beads. Immobilized biomass in calcium alginate continuously decolorized azo dyes after eight repeated batch decolorization experiments without significant loss of activity whereas polyacrylamide immobilized biomass retained only 10% of its activity after 4 days of incubation. The effects of some physicochemical parameters such as temperature, pH, and dyes concentration on decolorization performance of isolated fungal strain were also investigated.