Phototrophic growth of Rubrivivax gelatinosus in poultry slaughterhouse wastewater

Rubrivivax gelatinosus was grown in Pfennig’s synthetic medium (PM) and in treated wastewater from poultry slaughterhouse (TW) to assess growth profiles for biomass production. Cultures inoculated at 1% (v/v) were grown under anaerobiosis at 30 ± 2 °C and 1400 ± 200 lux for 12 days. Regular absorbance curves for R. gelatinosus were found both on PM and TW. On PM, the highest dry weight of biomass, 0.39 g L−1, was achieved in the 216-h culture and the highest specific growth rate of 0.2960 h−1 occurred in the 24-h culture. On TW, the highest biomass of 0.57 g L−1 was also obtained in the 216-h culture and the highest specific growth rate, 0.1970 h−1, was achieved in the 48-h culture. For productivity and chemical oxygen demand investigations, the cultivation was accomplished in the TW under anaerobiosis at 32 ± 2 °C and 4000 ± 500 lux, for 10 days. Productivity was 0.085 g biomass (d.w.) L−1 day−1, with a COD decrease of 91%.