Utilization of Inoculated Eri Cocoon for Water Pollutant Removal

The eri cocoon may have the potential to immobilize effective microorganisms although it needs to be tested in order to be used as a method to remove pollutants from water. Lactobacillus acidophilus has proven to be capable of removing up to 60% of Arsenic (III) from water within 3 hours. The main objective of this study was to quantify the amount of glucose absorbed by inoculated eri cocoon as an indicator of the capacity for pollutant removal. Lactobacillus spp. was incubated at 37 o C for 48 hours. By microscopic observation, structures were described. The rate of inoculation was calculated as colony forming units (cfu) in the eri cocoon divided by cfu of the inoculation solution times one hundred. An absorption trial was set up. The absorption rate was calculated as final glucose concentration minus initial divided by time. The untreated (UT) eri cocoon presented nano-tubes where bacteria can easily penetrate. By soaking eri cocoons in distilled water (WS), cavern-like structures appeared within the silk fibers. When the eri cocoon was autoclaved (AC), the cavern structures were more frequent. The twisted yarn (TY) showed almost no difference with the fibers in the UT eri cocoon. The sample counts gave no statistical differences between UT and AC. Eri cocoon has the natural structures to accommodate microorganisms within its fibers. In the inoculation rate there was no difference between UT and AC treatments. The consumption of glucose showed no difference between UT, AC and WS; but there was a significant difference between the first three and TY. TY had the lowest glucose consumption.