The efficacy of different Pleurotus ostreatus (L.) isolates to treat
pulp and paper industrial effluent on a shake flask and fermentor were
studied. In the shake flask and fermentor studies, Pleurotus ostreatus
decolorized the effluent 69.68% and 66.66% respectively, on 7TH day of
incubation. The chemical oxygen demand was reduced by 61.3% by Pleurotus
ostreatus on day 7 of incubation. Various cultural conditions including
different glucose concentrations, nitrogen sources, pH, temperature and
incubation period influence on biomass and different enzymes viz;
xylanase, CMCase and laccase production by Pleurotus ostreatus IMPP-02
were optimized in shake flask cultures. Under these culture conditions,
the maximum level of xylanase activity (9.29 Uml-1), CMCase (7.37 U
ml-1), laccase (13.57 U ml-1) and effluent decolorization (69.68%) were
observed on 7th day during shake flask studies. Furthermore, the optimum
pH and temperature were found to be 5.0 and 30°C, respectively in
fermentor studies. The maximum color reduction of 66.66 %; biological
oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction of 65.35
% and 61.3 % respectively, were determined during fermentor studies.