Production, Characterization and Effect of Cultural Condition on Bioflocculant Produced by Alcaligenes aquatilis AP4

Bioflocculants are polymeric substance produced by microorganisms as a secondary metabolite which can be used in the treatment of wastewater. A novel bioflocculant producing bacterium was isolated from Palm-oil mill effluent and identified as Alcaligenes aquatilis AP4 using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Production, characterization and the effect of culture conditions such as carbon source, cations, incubation temperature, initial pH, static/agitation incubation and speed on bioflocculant produced by AP4 were investigated. Glucose supported highest production of bioflocculant by the isolate at 72 hours of incubation. 30°C and pH 9.0 induced the highest bioflocculant production. Agitation condition had a significant effect (P≤0.05) while shaking speed of 140rpm induced maximum production of bioflocculant. Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectrophotometer analysis shows the presence of OH, NH2, CONH2 CO- and COO- as functional groups and Chemical analyses of the purified bioflocculant revealed it to be a glycoprotein.