Original Articles: 2013 Vol: 5 Issue: 3
Isolation and identification of LDPE degrading fungi from municipal solid waste
Abstract
Plastic causes serious pollution to the environment, both during its production and disposal. In-vitro biodegradation of plastic waste through microbial strains could offer a solution to this problem because will be compelled to take the polymer as carbon source and possibly because of their diverse metabolic capability, adaptability to different adverse environment it will be able to degrade it in due course of time. In the present investigation, potential fungal strains to degrade LDPE were isolated and assessed for its capability in-vitro. Eight fungal strains namely FSM-1, FSM-3, FSM-4, FSM-5, FSM-6, FSM-8, FSM-9, FSM-10 were isolated and identified. Among these six were Aspergillus sp. and two were Fusarium sp. This study was showed the microscopic analysis for its ability to adhere and grow on hydrophobic surface of LDPE film. The active enzymes produced by this fungal strain were responsible for the biodegradation.