Assessing biodegradation of furfuryl alcohol using Pseudomonas putida MTCC 1194 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 1034 and its kinetics.

The biodegradation of furfuryl alcohol (FA) in shake flask experiments using a pure culture of Pseudomonas putida (MTCC 1194) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 1034) was studied at 30 °C and pH 7.0. Experiments were performed at different FA concentrations ranging from 50 to 500 mg/l. Before carrying out the biodegradation studies, the bacterial strains were acclimatized to the concentration of 500 mg/l of FA by gradually raising 100 mg/l of FA in each step. The well acclimatized culture of P. putida and P. aeruginosa degraded about 80 and 66% of 50 mg/l FA, respectively. At higher concentration of FA, the percentage of FA degradation decreased. The purpose of this study was to determine the kinetics of biodegradation of FA by measuring biomass growth rates and concentration of FA as a function of time. Substrate inhibition was calculated from experimental growth parameters using the Haldane equation. Data for P. putida were determined as µ max  = 0.23 h-1, K s  = 23.93 mg/l and K i  = 217.1 mg/l and for P. aeruginosa were determined as µ max  = 0.13 h-1, K s  = 21.3 mg/l and K i  = 284.9 mg/l. The experimental data were fitted in Haldane, Aiba and Edwards inhibition models.