RESUMO
The treatment of an industrial textile effluent (ITE) was investigated by using a mono-culture of a novel fungal strain Chaetomium globosum IMA1. This filamentous fungus was selected based on its capacity for dye removal via the biodegradation mechanism. The respirometric analysis showed that C. globosum IMA1 was resistant to an indigo concentration up to 700 mg equivalent COD/L. The decolourization of the ITE by C. globosum was performed in static and stirred batch systems. The better lignin peroxidase (LiP), laccase and the manganese peroxidase (MnP) productions were 829.9 U/L, 83 U/L and 247.8 U/L, respectively since 3-5 days under a stirred condition. Therefore, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and colors (OD620) removal yields reached 88.4% and 99.8%, respectively. Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis of the treated effluent showed that the decolourization was due to the degradation and the transformation of dye molecules. However, spectrophotometric examination showed that the complete dye removal was through fungal adsorption (8%), followed by degradation (92%).