A Review on the Role of Microbes in Degradation of Melanoidin from Distillery Wastewater

Abstract

Discharge of melanoidin containing distillery wastewater raises a serious environmental concern as it can pose severe health risks to aquatic bodies and soil due to absorption of sunlight, change in the alkalinity and inhibition of seed germination. Several physicochemical and biological based clean-up technologies have been investigated to combat this environmental pollution. Strategies to decolorize the distillery effluents using potential microbial communities are efficient and cost-effective. Distillery effluent treatment methods using fungi, algae and bacteria have demonstrated promising results. Microbial enzymes involved in the mechanism of decolorization have also been studied extensively. Current advances in melanoidin decolorization using nanoparticles show great promise for treating industrial effluents. The focus of the present review is to explore the current approaches of use of different groups of microbes and novel approaches such as use of nanoparticles in decolorization of melanoidin containing distillery wastewater.