Microbial characterizations of water using tea polyphenols as a disinfectant for effluent treatment after the ultrafiltration process

Abstract

The microbial characteristics of water treated by tea polyphenols after the ultrafiltration process were studied based on the continuous disinfection performance of tea polyphenols. Metagenomics was carried out to investigate the microbial community distribution, functional characteristics, and variations after disinfection, to reveal the disinfection principle of tea polyphenols, and to provide the theoretical basis for using tea polyphenols as a disinfectant to better control the growth of microorganisms. The analysis of microbial diversity and community structure showed that the microbial diversity in water was significantly reduced after disinfection with tea polyphenols. The results of hierarchical clustering analysis showed that microbial metabolism, environmental information processing, and functional modules in genetic information processing were significantly inhibited after disinfection treatment using tea polyphenols. The tea polyphenols inhibit the growth and reproduction of microorganisms by selection on the microorganisms in the water, thus achieving the effect of bacterial inhibition. HIGHLIGHTS Tea polyphenols as disinfectants inhibit the regrowth of bacteria.; Tea polyphenols disinfection significantly reduces the diversity of microorganisms in water.; The gene function of many microorganisms in water is greatly changed after disinfection by tea polyphenols.; Tea polyphenols disinfection exerts a greater inhibitory effect on the metabolism of various nucleotides and related processes of microorganisms.;

Keywords

• metagenomics
• microbial community
• microbial function
• tea polyphenols
• ultrafiltration