CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Vinasse is a heavy pollutant residue generated from bioethanol production. Currently,vinasse is either employed in fertigation or anaerobically treated, but these methodshave significant limitations. However, fungal bioconversion may allow thetransformation of vinasse into high-value products, such as industrial enzymes. Thisstudy describes the efficiency of Pycnoporus sp. P6 under two types of fermentationsystems, free-cell and immobilized cell culture, in terms of Laccase production andvinasse biodegradation. The effects of sugar supplementation in the immobilizationstage, the reuse of immobilized biomass, and the phytotoxicity of treated and untreatedvinasse over Lactucasativa seeds were also investigated. The results showed that freecell cultures of Pycnoporus sp. P6 effectively treated vinasse, reducing its color,content of phenolic compounds, toxicity, and oxygen demands. Using immobilizedbiomass improved all tested parameters, while supplementation with glucose in theimmobilization stage resulted in Laccase titers >700 U/L with color, phenols, andoxygen demands showing reductions of 35%, 55%, and >69%, respectively. Thereutilization of immobilized mycelium further increased Laccase activity by 300%,allowing a reduction of >30% color, 58% phenols, and >48% on oxygen demands.These findings suggest that Pycnoporus sp. P6 could be used for vinassedetoxification. Moreover, treated vinasse promoted plant growth when adequatelydiluted, supporting its use in fertigation. Pycnoporus sp. P6 has shown that it could beused for vinasse treatment. The system is simple and reproducible, offering a greenand cost-effective way of producing valuable byproducts, and should be considered apromising alternative for vinasse final disposition.

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