The application of solid lipase-rich enzymatic preparations (SEP) in the anaerobic treatment of industrial effluents from canned fish processing was investigated. SEP was produced by the fungus Penicillium simplicissimum through solid-state fermentation (SSF) of industrial wastes, and it was used in the hydrolysis of fats present in the effluents in order to facilitate the use of methane as a source of energy. The effluent (1500 mg O&G.L-1) was hydrolyzed with 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0% (w/v) of SEP at 30 °C for up to 18 hours. The effect of the enzymatic pre-treatment of O&G on the COD removal was not observed because regardless of the conditions adopted, values from 91 to 95% were obtained. The specific production of methane presented values that varied with the addition of SEP and time of hydrolysis. In the control experiments, in which the flasks were incubated at 30 ºC without the addition of SEP, the specific methane production increased with the time of incubation reaching the maximum peak at 18h (138 mL CH4.g-1 CODconsumed). However, higher values of specific methane production were obtained with 0.5 and 1.0% of SEP highlighting the hydrolysis with 0.5% of SEP and 8 hours of hydrolysis with 216 mL CH4.g-1 CODcomsumed. When comparing the control 0 hour (raw effluent) with the effluent hydrolyzed with 0.5% of SEP for 8 hours, it could be observed that the specific methane production increased by 2.7 times indicating that the substrate available for the action of anaerobic microorganisms were more easily assimilated.
fish; effluents; hydrolysis; fats; lypasis; methane
