Crude Enzyme of Aspergillus sp. 3 Immobilized in Chitosan-Beads to Decolorize Batik Effluent

Abstract

Batik is one of Indonesian’s cultures which has a unique symbolic meaning and has high aesthetic value for the Indonesian. The number of industries engaged in this business will bring new problems to the surrounding environment because batik effluent can pollute the river. This untreated dye effluent is very dangerous and can damage the environment because it is toxic, carcinogenic, and even mutagenic. One of the effluent treatment methods is by a biological method. The indigenous Aspergillus sp. 3 fungi are isolated from batik effluent, taken from the batik industry in Banyumas regency. The utilization of fungi for effluent treatment can be done by adsorption and enzymatic method. Degradation using enzymes is known to be more effective. Aspergillus fungi contain ligninolytic enzymes. Ligninolytic enzymes play an important role in degrading lignin on lignocellulosic substrates. This research is aimed to apply fungal enzyme immobilization for decolorization of batik effluent. Chitosan-based beads components are made with a combination of chitosan, STPP 2%, and phosphate buffer. Enzyme immobilization is done by immersing the chitosan solution in the Ligninolytic enzyme solution. Ligninolytic enzymes that are immobilized into chitosan will form beads that will be dissolved into batik effluent. The development of enzyme immobilization techniques is applied to batik effluent with a percentage of effluent decolorization until 96,8%. The best treatment results can reduce the value of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) from 16,500 mg/L to 4005 mg/l and can also reduce the pH value of the effluent.