Degradation of the indigo carmine dye by an anaerobic mixed population

Abstract

An anaerobic mixed population was found to be able to grow on acetate and Indigo carmine as sole carbon sources. After eighteen days of incubation, the dye was completely decolorized. Degradation products of indigo carmine monitored by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to ultraviolet/visible detector (HPLC-UV/VIS) were not detected after 25 d of incubation. Investigations on the degradation pathway of the anaerobic mixed population have been studied. To our best knowledge, it is the first time that an anaerobic mixed population growing on acetate, a dye bath additive in the textile industry, is able to mineralize indigo carmine. © 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.