MICROBES IN THE DEGRADATION OF SOLID WASTE MOLASSES
Molasses is usually a viscous product that is obtained by refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses is a defining component of fine commercial brown sugar. The amount of sugar, method of extraction, and age of plant determines the variety of molasses. Sugarcane molasses has agreeable taste and aroma, which is used primarily for sweetening and flavoring of foods. The sugar beet molasses is unpalatable, foul-smelling and is used mainly as an animal feed additive. There are various forms of molasses which includes Sugar cane molasses, Sugar beet molasses, Blackstrap molasses and unsulphured molasses etc. Molasses is used for the production of variety of food products such as cookies, pies, gingerbread and also used as food additives for live stock feeds. Molasses is a main source for the production of yeast and citric acid as well. It also serves as a carbon source for most of the in situ bioremediation technologies. Molasses can serve as a stock for ethanol fermentation to produce an alternative fuel for motor vehicles. Molasses can also improve the microbial activity of the soil when used as a soil additive. According to the USDA nutrition table, molasses contains sucrose (29% of total carbohydrates), glucose (12%) and fructose (13%). Nutritionally molasses is composed of Water (22%), Carbohydrates (75%) and no protein or fat. A daily intake of 100 gram of molasses is a rich source of vitamin B6 (20% ≥ Daily Value [DV]) and several dietary minerals, including manganese, magnesium, iron, potassium, and calcium (table). The distillation of fermentor wash usually generates molasses spent wash. The molasses spent wash has high rates of BOD, COD, Suspended Solids and is usually highly acidic. Molasses wastewater in factories carrying out alcohol fermentation, bakers yeast fermentation and soon is usually treated by biological methods such as methane fermentation and activated sludge treatment. Almost all the BOD of molasses wastewater containing spent wash is removed by methane fermentation and activated sludge methods, but a lot of melonoidin, a dark brown molasses pigment remain as such. Melonoidin from in distillery waste is one of the sources of water pollution which leads to hazardous effect. The improper treatment and disposal of these waste molasses into natural water bodies may result in eutrophication. The removal of melanoidin from wastewater by effective practical methods is expected throughout the world. The utilization of microbial activity for the decolorization and mineralization of molasses spent wash has shown a promising approach to remediate the hazardous effects of the waste molasses in a benign way.