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Volume 2 Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology Reports Microbial Biotechnology 2018
September 17-18, 2018
Microbial Biotechnology & Vaccine Design
September 17-18, 2018 Lisbon, Portugal
5th World Congress on
Application of a γ-polyglutamic acid flocculant to water treatment
Valquiria Campos1, Isaac J Sayeg2
1Sao Paulo State University, Brazil
2University of São Paulo, Brazil
Gamma-polyglutamic acid (γ-PGA) has received considerable attention for environmental applications. γ-PGA can be produced by
fermenting soybeans using the bacterium Bacillus subtilis found in foods such as natto (Figure 1), which is considered a delicacy in
Japan. Most biopolymer applications are directly linked to their potential to respond to changes in the environment in which they are
dissolved. An approach aimed at understanding the structural changes, conformation and associations of polymer chains, as well as
their practical applications, is of great scientific interest. This work focuses on the extraction and quantification of γ-polyglutamic acid
from natto, a fermented soybean food. The γ-PGA extraction method using methanol proved to be more efficient than extraction
with ethyl alcohol and acetone. The extraction of γ-PGA using methanol yielded 4.72 g kg-1 of natto. After, a conventional jar test
apparatus was used for flocculation experiments. The commercial coagulants used in the coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation
tests were aluminum sulfate (16% Al2O3) and PAC (9.59% Al2O3). The levels of coagulants were established based on preliminary
tests and recommended by the WTP, but the parameters of pH and temperature of the raw water were not changed. The optimum
operating conditions for bioflocculant treatment were determined by the jar test procedure and, in this case, the γ-PGA was used
directly in its powder form for the jar test. The tests were performed using raw water from the Salto de Pirapora Water Treatment
Plant (WTP) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The performance of PGA bioflocculant was superior to that of the other coagulants. In
the dry season, 65 mg L-¹ of new formulation γ-PGA removed 93.12% of apparent color, and residual turbidity was 3.38 NTU.
Biography
Valquiria Campos is a in Geology at University of São Paulo; . in Geology at Geoscience Institute at the São Paulo University and she held Postdoctoral
in Chemical Engineering at São Paulo University. A full Professor since 2009 at São Paulo State University (UNESP), Institute of Science and Technology,
Sorocaba, Brazil. The actual laboratory in which she is working is in the Department of Environmental Engineering of the Polytechnic School. She is focused on
understanding hydrogeochemistry processes and related impacts on water supply and demand, water quality, agriculture, and impacts to other sectors of society.
Valquiria Campos et al., J Microbio and Biotech Rept 2018, Volume 2