Potential application of an indigenous actinobacterium to remove heavy metal from sugarcane vinasse

Abstract

The Northwest of Argentina has an important concentration of alcohol distilleries that generate large volumes of vinasse as final liquid residue of the process. Vinasse may have high concentrations of heavy metals and other toxins, which could enhance its toxicity if is not subjected to the conditioning treatments before their disposal into the environments. Many of the conventional methods for the removal of heavy metals from industrial wastes are not economic neither environmental friendly; thereby new alternatives based upon vinasse recovery by microbial action, are being evaluated. The actinobacterium Streptomyces sp. MC1 has been widely recognized for its ability to remove heavy metals from artificially contaminated systems. Their mycelia growth and ability to colonize substrates make it a suitable bioremediation agent. The current chapter reviewed the environmental impact of heavy metals from vinasse as well as the potential of this actinobacterium to remove them. First advances on the toxicity of the vinasse subjected to the strain action were also reviewed using Lactuca sativa seeds as bioremediation indicator.