Comparative study on decolorization of reactive dye 222 by white rot fungi Pleurotus ostreatus IBL-02 and Phanerochaete chrysosporium IBL-03

White rot basidiomycetes have unique ability to decolorize synthetic industrial dyes. Initial experiment was performed with five locally isolated indigenous white rot species fungi S. commune IBL-01 (SC), P. ostreatus IBL-02 (PO) P. chrysosporium IBL-03 (PC), T. versicolor IBL-04 (TV) and G. lucidum IBL-05 (GL), for the selection of white rot fungal cultures based on their maximal decolorization potential. Based on the screening experiment, two white rot fungi P. ostreatus IBL-02 and P. chrysosporium IBL03 (PC) showing maximum decolorization of dye under study were selected. A comparative study was conducted for the selected white rot fungi to get the maximum decolorization of synthetic azo dye. Different fermentation conditions and nutritional factors were optimized to enhance the efficiency of white rot fungal cultures for dye decolorization. Both cultures produced all the three major ligninolytic enzymes including lignin peroxidase (LiP), manganase peroxidase (MnP) and laccase which are responsible for decolorization process. Under optimum conditions fermentation conditions, P. ostreatus IBL-02 (PO) and P. chrysosporium IBL-03 (PC) decolorized the azo dye by 92.7 and 85.9%, respectively.