SCREENING OF TROPICAL WOOD-ROTTING MUSHROOMS FOR COPPER BIOSORPTION

Fruiting bodies (mushrooms) of nine nonedible macrofungi were screened for copper(II) uptake potential. The maximum uptake potentials (Q(max )s) derived from equilibrium studies indicated that all nine species e xhibited higher Q(max)s at pH 4.0 than that of Filtrasorb-400, a gener ally used adsorbent for metal removal. Wide variation in Q(max) was ob served among the species and ranged from 0.048 to 0.383 mmol per g of sorbent, The uptake capacity of Ganoderma lucidum, which exhibited the highest Q(max) was higher than those of other microbial biosorbents r eported in the literature.