FILAMENTOUS FUNGI

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 Filamentous fungi are often cultivated in food industries as a source of by products such as protein and bio chemicals, among others, on relatively expensive substrates such as starch aur molasses. Fungal treatment not only converts the wastewater organics into high value fungal protein and valuable biochemicals,but it also produces highly d water bill fungal biomass which can be used as a source of animal feed and potentially in human diets. Fungi can produce a wide range of fine biochemicals and enzymes and are more effective than bacteria in metabolizing complex carbohydrates such as starch.

In addition to food supplements,fungi are often cultured in industry for use in deriving a variety of beneficial substances such as amino acids, enzymes, dyes,organic acids, organic alcohol and others. Fungi have several other advantages over bacteria in biological wastewater treatment, in addition to being a source of valuable fungal buy products such as amylase, chitin and lactic acid. 

Fungi utilise lipids and fatty acids such as oleate and palmitate as their carbon source. A maximum COD production of 98% was achieved using fungal species. The fungal lipases degrade the the fats and oils by converting the triacylglycerols to free fatty acids and glycerol. These hydrolysed by products are transported buy the cell through simple diffusion and reassembled within the cell.

Fungi contain a group of extra cellular enzymes that facilitate the biodegradation of recalcitrant compounds such as phenolic compounds, dyes and Poly aromatic hydrocarbons among others through non-specific oxidation reactions. Fungi are eukaryotes, having considerably more genes than bacteria which make them more versatile in tolerating inhibitory compounds.





Reference: Use of Filamentous Fungi for Wastewater Treatment and Production of High Value Fungal Byproducts: A Review                                                                                                                            By Sindhuja Sankaran, Samir Kumar Khanal, Nagapadma Jasti, Bo Jin, Anthony L. Pometto III, and J. (Hans) van Leeuwen. 



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