ISOLATION OF MOLDS FOR REDUCING THE COLOR OF VINASSE


Yahya Kurniawan dan Hendro Santoso M

Indonesian Sugar Research Institute
Jl.Pahlawan 25 Pasuruan 67126
E-mail: isri@telkom.net


ABSTRACT

Vinasse or ethanol slop is blackish brown liquid, which is not friendly to the environment. Therefore, it is necessary the possibility to reduce the color biologically. The study was started by isolating molds from the vinasse of Jatiroto Alcohol factory and the isolated molds was tested to study the capability of their color reduction. The results showed that there were 4 kinds of molds in the vinasse i.e. : Rhizopus sp., Penicillium A, Penicillium B, and Aspergillus. Amongst these molds, Penicillium A and Penicillium B had the best potency in reducing the slop color. Around 54 % of its absorbency value at 420 nm could be reduced by the molds.

Key words : Molds, isolation, color, vinasse.