Biological methods of dye removal from textile effluents - A review

Textile dyes are molecules designed to impart permanent colours to textile fabrics. They pose an environmental problem due to their toxicity and decrease the aesthetic value of water bodies into which they are discharged. Current physico-chemical technologies for dye removal cannot remove all classes of dyes, and two or more technologies are usually combined to achieve satisfactory decolourisation efficiencies. Direct biological treatment using fungi or bacteria can also be employed, but nutritional and physiological requirements of microorganisms put constraints on the applicability of such bioremediation processes. The search for efficient and green oxidation technologies has increased the interest in the use of enzymes to replace the conventional non-biological methods. Among the different existing oxidant enzymes, laccase (benzenediol:oxygen oxidoreductases; EC 1.10.3.2) has been the subject of intensive research in the past few decades due to its low substrate specificity. Enzymatic treatment using laccase can be simpler and much more efficient than the traditional physical or chemical treatments. This paper reviews conventional biological processes as well as  laccase-based processes might replace the traditionally energy intensive and water-consuming chemical treatment operations in the textile industry. Keywords: Dyes, Decolourisation, Green Oxidation, Laccase, Textile industry