Environmental challenge of the vinasses: Fungi-based biological treatment systems

Abstract

Abstract The vinasse is a complex waste material from bioethanol industry, which causes major environmental problems around the world. The Northwest of Argentina alone, produces about 4 billion liters of vinasse annually, which is discharged into the water bodies inducing undesirable changes to the environment. The bioprocessing of vinasse by microbial agents has been described as the ecofriendliest practice for conditioning it. In particular, fungi are considered efficient microorganisms for the degradation of the vinasse since they can survive in acidic environments, neutralizing the pH and removing recalcitrant compounds from it. Nevertheless, the use of natural microorganisms isolated from sites exposed to vinasse could become a prerequisite for the selection of potent agents that guarantee a successful degradation. The present chapter provides a review on effectiveness of fungi-based biological systems for vinasse treatment. The first advances on degradation of vinasse by an autochthonous fungus from the Northwest of Argentina are also considered.