Microbial Composting of Sugar Mill Wastes

The pressmud and bagasse was collected for the composting and its physico - chemical characteristics was analyzed. Bacterial and fungal isolates were identified from the collected pressmud and bagasse. The identified bacterial isolates were Xanthomonas sp., Pseudomonas fluorescens, Escherichia coli and Cellulomonas composti. The identified fungal isolates were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Trichoderma reesei, Fusarium sp., Penicillium expansum and Mucor sp. The bacteria and fungi isolates isolated from the pressmud were screened for their ability to produce cellulase, β – glucosidase and xylanase. Three isolates (C. composti, T. reesei and P. expansum) were selected based on the efficiency of the production of above mentioned enzyme. The substrate pressmud and bagasse with different treatments was composted for 90 days. The total nitrogen content, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sulphur, zinc, iron, organic content, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content were high in CM – 8 (Substrate + Cellulomonas composti + Trichoderma reesei + Penicillium expansum).

Dr.J.P.Saranraj is a Project Fellow in UGC Major Project, Department of Microbiology, Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. He is a Microbiologist and he published 55 papers in an international journals & 10 papers in national journals. He presented 25 papers in seminars and conferences. He also published 12 monograph books in LAP.