Use of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae In Biological Treatment for Heavy Metals Uptake from Industrial Wastewater

Abstract

A strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was taken from Shabaa yeast manufactory in Damascus and it was grown in a suitable culture in order to test its ability to uptake heavy metals. A comparison was made on the ability of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to uptake Cadmium and Cobalt in different growing conditions, where three concentrations were used for each metal at three pH degrees and three temperatures. The grown Saccharomyces cerevisiae was able to uptake both Cobalt and Cadmium individually and combined; the highest uptake amount of Cobalt reached 1.99 ppm from 2 ppm, and for Cadmium 0.48 ppm from 0.5 ppm. It was noticed that the uptake rate increased when the two metals were in combination, and temperatures were 5 c and 28 c, and pH 4 and 9, which are best conditions. This biotechnology can be applied using Saccharomyces cerevisiae to uptake heavy metals from industrial wastewater.