Studies on degradation of a tannery textile dye Eriochrome blue black by Pseudomonas fluorescens

Pseudomonas fluorescens was able to degrade Eriochrome Blue Black, a commercial diazo dye used in tannery and textile industry upto a concentration of 200 ppm. Effects of different carbohydrate and nitrogen sources on dye degradation were determined. Ammonium salts and 2% of glucose were required to metabolise the dye. TLC, FT-IR and HPLC analysis were used to determine the mechanism of Eriochrome Blue Black degradation by Pseudomonas fluorescens. From this, a tentative pathway was proposed which indicates that one of the intermediate formed during degradation was salicylic acid which may further undergo bacterial degradation producing compounds that enter Kreb's cycle. The efficiency of the cells immobilized by sodium alginate entrapment in the degradation of dye was also studied.