Abstract
The separation of insoluble solids from wastewater from shochu distillation is very difficult because of their high viscosity. Thus a large amount of shochu waste has been dumped into the ocean. The purpose of this study is to establish a new separation technique for shochu waste. Filamentous fungus was inoculated to shochu waste at 1×106 cells/ml and the culture solution was incubated for several days. After that, the culture solution was filtered on a filter paper for 15 minutes using an aspirator. Accordingly the shochu waste was condensed to about 6 to 10 times. We consider that the elongated filaments of fungi should grasp and aggregate the solid particles in shochu waste, and this is expected to be the major accelerated separation mechanism in this study. Aspergillus oryzae RIB128 showed the highest separation efficiency among in the tested strains. With the treatment of shochu waste with filamentous fungi, the pH of shochu waste was changed from 3.9 to 7 by the decrease of organic acid. Organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus decreased to about 70%, 60%. and 90%, respectively.
