DEGRADACIÓN DE POLIETILENO DE BAJA DENSIDAD POR Aspergillus niger

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.15824190710

• Palavras-chave: Degradación, poliuretano, hongos, biorremediación

• Keywords: Degradation, polyurethane, fungi, bioremediation

• Abstract: In this work, the degradation capacity of low-density polyurethane by the fungus Aspergillus niger was analyzed. Under the conditions analyzed, the fungus does not degrade the substratum, since no difference is observed in their dry weight after the incubation period, although it is observed that there is growth of the fungus (determined by dry weight) although in very low proportion, while the production of extracellular protein (determined by the absorbance at 750 nm) is also observed, in a very low quantity, under the conditions analyzed. In addition, the production of extracellular laccase and esterase enzymes was analyzed, obtaining a laccase activity of 0.16 U/mL, and a esterase activity of 0.09 U/mL, while in the control without substrate no enzymatic activity was observed. In conclusion, the fungus does not degrade low-density polyethylene, which may be because it does not have this capacity, because more incubation time is required, or because other incubation conditions and/or other microorganisms are needed.