Colour remediation of pulp mill effluent using purified fungal cellobiose dehydrogenase: reaction optimisation and mechanism of degradation.

Cellobiose dehydrogenase purified from two different fungal sources was assessed for its ability to remove and/or reduce colour from pulp mill bleach plant effluent. Cellobiose dehydrogenase purified from Phanerochaete chrysosporium was shown to prefer acidic conditions and was consequently used to treat the acid effluent stream discharged from a pulp mill bleach plant, while an analogous enzyme originating from Humicola insolens preferred alkaline conditions, and was applied to the effluent discharged from the caustic sewer of the bleach plant. Both enzyme preparations were able to remove colour from their respective effluent sources to a comparable extent.