Capacity of a newly isolated fungus Pleurotus eryngii from Tunceli, Ovacik for chemical oxygen demand reduction and biodecolorization of Azo-Dye Congo Red

Biodecolorization of Congo red dye in both agar-plate and agitated liquid culture mediums by newly isolated white rot fungus Pleurotus eryngii has been studied. This fungus isolated from Tunceli-Ovacik province of Turkey. We have also examined the chemical oxygen demand reduction after decolorization under agitated liquid culture medium. For agar plate screening the decolorization capacity of P. eryngii, growth and decolorization halos were determined on saboroud dextrose agar (SDA) plates containing 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1 and 2 g/l of Congo red. P. eryngii showed certain decolorization capacities and was able to decolorize all studied concentrations of Congo red, but not to the same extent. Our results indicated that the new isolate P. eryngii had maximum decolorization (87% at 100 mg/l initial dye concentration) and chemical oxygen demand reduction (82% at 25 mg/l initial dye concentration) activities after 7 days under agitated submerged culture conditions. This new isolate could be an effective bioremediation tool for treatment of Congo red containing textile wastewater.