Sustainable Upcycling of Mushroom Farm Wastewater through Cultivation of Two Water Ferns (<i>Azolla</i> spp.) in Stagnant and Flowing Tank Reactors

Abstract

Nowadays, the increase in the wastewater generated from the mushroom cultivation sector has become a serious environmental pollution concern. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the efficiency of two water ferns (Azolla pinnata and A. filiculoides) in phytoremediation of mushroom farm wastewater (MFW) under stagnant and flowing tank reactor systems. For this, the laboratory scale experiments were conducted using five treatments, i.e., control (absolute borewell water), S50 (15 L borewell water + 15 L MFW: stagnant mode), S100 (30 L MFW: stagnant mode), F50 (15 L borewell water + 15 L MFW: flowing mode), F100 (30 L MFW: flowing mode), separately for both Azolla spp. After 15 days, A. pinnata and A. filiculoides significantly (p Azolla spp. were also observed while using absolute MFW treatment in a flowing tank reactor system. Moreover, out of the two tested growth kinetic models, the logistic model showed better fitness to the experimental data and prediction of critical growth parameters compared to the modified Gompertz model. The findings of this study are novel and suggest sustainable upcycling of MFW using plant-based treatment techniques with the production of high-quality Azolla spp. biomass.

Keywords

• <i>Azolla</i> spp.
• growth kinetics
• mushroom cultivation
• phytoremediation
• sustainable development