Alkaline-Pretreated Banana Peel Fermentation Hydrolysate as a Novel Carbon Source for Enhanced Denitrification: Performance, Optimization, and Microbial Community Dynamics
摘要
This study investigated using low-lignin, readily hydrolyzable agricultural waste banana peel to make fermentation broth as a low-cost and potentially effective external carbon source to address expensive carbon supply issues in the denitrification process. Short-term fermentation results demonstrated that under conditions of hydrothermal alkaline pretreatment, with an initial pH of 4.8, a cellulase enzyme dosage of 30 mg/g, and a fermentation period of 12 h, the COD reached 5663.73 mg/L. The denitrification performance comparison revealed that banana peel fermentation broth (BP) and glucose (Glu) obtained a 100% NO- 3-N removal rate in 12 h due to its highly degradable components. For various initial NO- 3-N concentrations, the BP group's residual COD was substantially higher than the Glu group's, and it showed exceptional removal capabilities (100% at 100 mg/L, 150 mg/L, and 200 mg/L, 79% at 250 mg/L). Illumina high-throughput sequencing showed in the phylum level, the BP group was comparable to the Glu group. However, the BP group was enriched at the genus level with distinct possible denitrifying functional taxa such as Bergeyella (5.53%) and Cloacibacterium (5.83%). The functional prediction of PICRUSt2 also showed that the BP group enriched many carbon and nitrogen metabolism pathways, suggesting its potential as a promising alternative carbon source.