Biodegradation of Ferulic Acid Using Aspergillus fumigatus

The soil samples collected from the dumped sites of coffee industry residues contaminated with ferulic acid at Keezhkadu, Kodaikanal were subjected to serial dilution and the development of fungal colonies in PDA plates. One of the colonies was selected and identified as Aspergillus fumigatus using Lacto phenol cotton blue staining method. The efficiency of the fungal strain on the degradation of different concentrations of the ferulic acid was studied using 5, 10, 15 and 20 ppm of ferulic acid. The changes in pH, COD, and biomass observed were proved statistically significant using ANOVA. It was also confirmed by the appearance of new peaks in HPLC analysis after ten days of treatment. Hence this strain can be used efficient in degrading the phenolic compound