Degradation of Orange 3R, mixture of dyes and textile effluent and production of polyhydroxyalkanoates from biomass obtained after degradation

Different combinations of three organisms (Sphingobacterium sp. ATM, Bacillus odysseyi SUK3, and Pseudomonas desmolyticum NCIM 2112) were used for degradation of textile dye Orange 3R and production of PHAs along with individual strains. Consortium IV was found to be effective among all. The PHAs were produced at 48 h of inoculation optimally, and the highest concentration of dye degraded at that time was found to be 0.8 g l−1 by using consortium IV. The dye degrading enzymes veratryl alcohol oxidase, laccase, DCIP reductase, riboflavin reductase, and azo reductase were found to be active during decolorization of Orange 3R and mixture of dyes. The true colour removal for mixture of dyes using consortium IV was found effective (94.50%). There was significant decrease in biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) values in all individual as well as consortia used from solution of mixture of dyes and textile effluent. Varied amount of PHAs production was observed in all organisms and consortia. Molasses was found to be a good carbon source for PHAs production among all agricultural wastes tested. HPLC, FTIR, GC–MS analysis of samples before and after decolorization of dye confirmed the biotransformation of Orange 3R.