Production of a bioflocculant from Aspergillus niger using palm oil mill effluent as carbon source

•PM-5 is a new bioflocculant produced from Aspergillus niger.•POME was first time used as carbon source for bioflocculant production.•The maximum PM-5 production was 2.6 g L−1.•PM-5 had great potential to treat river water from suspended solids.•PM-5 combined with Ca2+ acted as stimulating agent.

This study evaluated the potential of bioflocculant production from Aspergillus niger using palm oil mill effluent (POME) as carbon source. The bioflocculant named PM-5 produced by A. niger showed a good flocculating capability and flocculating rate of 76.8% to kaolin suspension could be achieved at 60 h of culture time. Glutamic acid was the most favorable nitrogen source for A. niger in bioflocculant production at pH 6 and temperature 35 °C. The chemical composition of purified PM-5 was mainly carbohydrate and protein with 66.8% and 31.4%, respectively. Results showed the novel bioflocculant (PM-5) had high potential to treat river water from colloids and 63% of turbidity removal with the present of Ca2+ ion.