Degradação de resíduos sólidos agrícolas por microrganismos isolados de bagaço de cana e seu percolado, e de efluentes de agroindústria.

Abstract

Brazil occupies a place of prominence in the productive sector, as well as in the exploitation of agricultural waste, from sugar cane. This use is a fairly widespread practice, both for effluents, mainly vinasse, but also for solid residues, such as filter-cake and bagasse from sugar cane. Thus, at the start of the 2005/06 harvest, samples were collected from residual waters of the S.T.E. (Station for the treatment of effluents), bagasse and from the filtrate liquid (percolate) from bagasse that was accumulated since the 2004/05 harvest, from the industrial processing of sugar cane in S.A. Usina Coruripe Açúcar e Álcool . The target was the isolation of microorganisms that produce extracellular enzymes able to degrade cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin phenols. There were originally 42 microorganisms isolated, of which 31 were screened for the verification of the production of these and other enzymes, as well as for their morphobiochemistry identification. From these, 29 were identified, with the predominance of the genera Flavobacterium, Chromobaterium and Achromobacter. The other bacterial isolates belong to the genus Corynebacterium, Aeromonas., Bacillus, Clostridium, Citrobacter, Nocardia, Kurthia, Mycobacterium, Serratia, Pseudomonas, e Actinomyces. Among the fungal isolates, the genera detected were: Penicillium, Rhodotorula, Gonatobotrys and Gliocladium. The actynomicete Nocardia (PB4), isolated from the percolate of bagasse, presented a broad spectrum of enzymatic activities, being selected for evaluation of its cellulolitic activity in liquid medium containing carboxymethylcellulose and bagasse from sugar cane as a source of carbon. The production of cellulase in these substrates was evaluated according to the concentration of reducing sugars and of total protein, and the content of total phenols has also been determined. In addition to this isolated, another 5 microorganisms were chosen - because of their cellulolytic, xylanolytic, and phenolytic activities in a solid medium, and used for implementing a process of composting of the sugar cane bagasse (from 2005/06 and 2006/07 harvests) with filter-cake (2006/07 crop), in scale of the greenhouse for 48 days. These were divided into 2 consortia (CM1 and CM2), formed by 3 microorganisms each. Factors such as temperature, moisture, organic matter content, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate and organic carbon were evaluated in order to monitor the process of composting substrates, without the addition of other macro and micronutrients. From the physico-chemical analyses, it was found that there were not wide variations in the performance of both consortia, and that both led to a reduction of the concentration of organic matter and contents of nitrate and phosphate. Besides this, in period (48 days) and in the conditions (trays with large diameter and small height, which favors changes of temperature of the substrate with the environment; non addition of other sources of nitrogen and phosphorus) of this study, the substrates do not reached stabilization. However, the microorganisms presented here, have broad potential for exploitation in cases of composting the solid and liquid agri-industrial residues, provided that relations C:N be corrected, and also in bioremediation, because of its broad spectrum of enzymatic activities. It is suggested to combine the solid waste with a percentage of vinasse, because this is rich in nutrients that influence the action of microorganisms studied.