Isao Akamatsu

Pretreatment of pectic wastewater from orange canning process by an alkalophilic Bacillus sp.

Abstract An alkalophilic bacteria that secretes endo-pectate lyase was isolated from soil in Thailand and identified as a Bacillus sp. The strain, designated as GIR 621, was applied to the pretreatment for more effective activated-sludge treatment of pectic wastewater from orange-canning factories. The bacterial pretreatment decreased the uronic acid of the wastewater by 91%, when supplemented with Polypepton, yeast extract, soybean powder, phosphorus and potassium (pH 10.0) for 36 h. The strain did not grow on simple synthetic media or under nonalkaline conditions, so the use of the potential phytopathogen should not involve biohazards.

Purification and identification of a growth factor produced by Paramecium tetraurelia

We previously reported that the jumyo mutant of a cilate protozoan Paramecium tetraurelia excretes into the medium a factor which promotes its own cell division. Here, the factor was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity through a series of liquid chromatographic procedures. This substance is a protein with a molecular weight of 17,000 which at concentrations of 1 X 10(-9) M (17 ng/ml) or more results in the recovery of the cell division rate of the jumyo mutant to the level of the wild type. The factor is therefore considered to be a growth factor and was named Paramecium growth factor (ParGF). This is the first report of direct proof for the production of a growth factor in an organism other than vertebrates.

Pretreatment of pectic wastewater from orange canning by soft-rot Erwinia carotovora

Abstract Erwinia carotovora FERM P-7576, a soft-rot pathogen screened for biochemical pulping, was used to dispose of pectic wastewater discharged from orange canning factories as a pretreatment for an activated sludge process. Twelve-hour bacterial pretreatment made it possible to reduce COD and total uronic acids by 10% and 84%, respectively, with supplementation of some nutrients (N, P, and K) and keeping DO constant. Enzymatic pretreatment using crude enzyme from this strain degraded almost all the pectic substances in this waste to the level of tetramers and pentamers within 24 h. These pretreatment was found to provide more rapid decomposition of the chemically very resistant pectic substances than other chemical, physical, or biological methods.

Studies on Cyclic Treatment of Alkali Pulp Waste Liquor and Semichemical Pulp Waste Liquor (Part 1)

The cyclic treatment was designed that lignin is removed from alkali pulp waste liquor by passing SO2 gas, the filtrate is used as cooking liquor of semichemical pulp and the semichemical pulp waste liquor is concentrated and burned with removed lignin, the resulting smelt is used as cooking liquor of alkali pulp.This report is explained the effect of pH variation (acidic to neutral) of reproduced cooking liquor from soda pulp waste liquor on chemical properties of semichemical pulp.