Patent ID: 8017374

Claim:
A process for the decolorization of colored effluents using unidentified white-rot fungus NIOCC #2a deposited under accession number MTCC 5159, which comprises: a) culturing the unidentified white-rot fungus NIOCC #2a deposited under accession number MTCC 5159 in a medium prepared with sea water with salinity ranging from 25 to 35 parts per thousand and containing assimilable carbon and nitrogen source for a period of 6 to 12 days to obtain a fungal biomass; b) separating the fungal biomass from the culture medium of step (a) to obtain a cell-free supernatant; c) freezing the cell-free supernatant obtained in step (b) for 12 to 24 hours followed by thawing thereof to precipitate the exopolymeric substance (EPS) produced by the fungus; d) adding methanol to the supernatant obtained in step (c) to further precipitate the remaining EPS; e) pooling and centrifuging the precipitates obtained in step (c) and (d) to obtain exopolymeric substance and; f) contacting colored effluents optionally in a diluted form either with the fungal biomass obtained in step (a) or cell-free supernatant obtained in step (b) or the exopolymeric substance as obtained in step (e) for a period ranging from 6 hours to 6 days at temperature ranging from 30 to 60 degree C. and pH ranging from 3 to 6 thereby decolorizing said colored effluents.