DECOLORIZATION OF ORANGE-II BY A WOOD-ROTTING FUNGUS

The decolourisation of Orange II by a wood-rotting fungus has been stu died. It was found that Fungus F29 could effectively decolourise Orang e II especially when grown as pelleted mycelia under agitated conditio ns. Many factors affecting the decolourisation process in nitrogen-lim ited media (NLM) were studied, including: concentration of glucose, NH 4+, Mn(II) and veratryl alcohol; initial pH; amount of mycelium; mycel ial age; Orange II concentration; temperature. Results showed that the media containing Orange II at 1000 mg dm(-3) (or higher) could be dec olourised by 98% of the initial colour (A(480 nm)) in 2 days, in most conditions tested, and that the mycelia could be repeatedly reused.