Impacts of monosodium glutamate industrial wastewater on plant growth and soil characteristics

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2009.06.002

Ecological Engineering

Volume 35, Issue 10, October 2009, Pages 1559-1563

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2009.06.002 Get rights and content

Abstract

Research into utilization of monosodium glutamate industrial wastewater (MSGW) as a plant nutrient source was undertaken. The physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of MSGW were analyzed in detail. Effect of MSGW on early growth of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. cv. Pekinensis) and maize (Zea mays L. cv. Bright Jean) was tested by the seed germination bioassay. Subsequently, in a greenhouse pot experiment using the same plant species, effects of MSGW application rates on the plant biomass yield, nitrogen content and soil properties were analyzed. The MSGW was characterized by high levels of N (56.7 g l⁻¹), organic C (344.6 g l⁻¹), total solids (600 g l⁻¹) and other minerals. At MSGW concentrations below 1%, germination indices for both the plant species were significantly (p < 0.01) higher than the control. Further, the greenhouse study results indicated significant increase in the plant biomass yield at MSGW application rates of 5000 and 7500 l ha⁻¹. As the MSGW dose increased, the biomass yield decreased, decreasing the N-use efficiency. Maize showed significantly higher wastewater N-use efficiency compared to the Chinese cabbage. Although the total culturable bacterial and fungal counts in the raw MSGW were low, addition of MSGW to the soil increased the soil microbial activities and soil respiration. Soil organic C was also increased by the addition of MSGW, due to the presence of significant amounts of organic C in the wastewater. This preliminary study demonstrates that by proper management of the pH and optimization of application rate, MSGW can be utilized as a nutrient source for plant growth. Further long-term field studies to evaluate the environmental impact of MSGW usage in agriculture are being designed to reduce the environmental risks associated with the reuse of this underutilized wastewater in the agriculture.

Introduction

Monosodium glutamate or MSG was developed in Japan and has found extensive use as flavor enhancer in food products throughout South East Asia as well as in other countries. MSG was originally obtained by extraction from beet sugar and is presently produced by microbial fermentation of cassava, wheat, potato starch, etc. In this method, bacteria (strains of Micrococcus glutamicus) having the ability to excrete glutamic acid are grown aerobically in a liquid nutrient medium containing a carbon source (cassava, wheat, potato starch), a nitrogen source (ammonium ions or urea), mineral ions and growth factors. The glutamic acid is separated from the fermentation broth by filtration, concentration, acidification, and crystallization, followed by conversion to its monosodium salt. The entire process generates large amounts of wastewater effluents. The monosodium glutamate industrial wastewater (MSGW) contains high concentration of organic matter, COD, ammonium, sulphate and low pH (Yang et al., 2005) and hence biological wastewater treatments processes are not effective. Removal of nutrients and organics from the wastewater using algae (Gronlund et al., 2004) or aquatic plants (Upadhyay et al., 2007, Zimmels et al., 2008) are common bio-filtration techniques, and are not suitable for MSGW due to the high solid content and extreme pH. Incidents of direct disposal of MSGW into water-ways causing severe environmental problems were also reported recently (Overland, 2008). A few research studies have focused on partial treatments such as color and COD removal using different techniques (Yang et al., 2003, Jia et al., 2007).

Ecotechnology emphasizes reutilization of waste by suitable modifications. Nutrients present in organic-rich wastewaters and sludge are being reused as source of plant nutrition (Zurita et al., 2009). Consideration for the possible reuse of MSGW relies on the high levels of nutrients present in this wastewater. An earlier study pointed out that MSGW was phytotoxic as it inhibited the germination of tomato, wheat and Chinese cabbage seeds (Liu et al., 2007). But this conclusion was based on MSGW concentrations above 2%. On the contrary, Yang et al. (2005) described MSGW as a wastewater containing no harmful components and used as a raw material for single-cell protein production. Exploitation of this nutrient-rich organic wastewater in various applications needs to be studied to reduce the treatment costs and environmental pollution. We hypothesized that due to the presence of rich nutrients, at certain concentrations, the MSGW could show stimulatory effects on the plant growth. Hence, the objectives of this study were: (1) to characterize in detail the properties of MSGW, (2) to optimize the dose at which beneficial effects on plant growth can be observed by a seed germination assay and (3) to evaluate its effects on plant growth and some soil properties by a greenhouse pot experiment.

Section snippets

Wastewater collection and characterization

The MSGW samples were collected from Vedan Enterprise Corp., Taichung, Taiwan, in 25-l plastic containers and stored at 4 °C. Detailed characterization of the wastewater was carried out according to the standard methods for the analyses of water and wastewater (APHA, 1998). For the microbiological analyses, samples were separately collected in 20-ml sterile screw-capped glass tubes. Immediately after collection the samples were serially diluted and plated on nutrient agar and potato dextrose

Characteristics of the wastewater

MSGW was dark brown in color and highly turbid with high levels of total solids, N, organic C and very low pH (Table 1). The heavy metal contents were moderately low and within the permissible limits for land application (USEPA, 1989). The U.S. standards limit the heavy metal levels for agricultural application to 170 kg Zn ha⁻¹, 78 kg Ni ha⁻¹, and 46 kg Cu ha⁻¹. Considering these qualities, the application rates for land use can be managed to avoid soil and groundwater contamination.

Effect of wastewater on seed germination

Germination index

Discussion and conclusion

This study shows that MSGW, an organic-rich wastewater enhanced the plant growth under moderate rates of application. Hence, it can be reused as a potential source for plant nutrients. Presence of pathogens such as fecal coliforms and Salmonella, is a common problem in the wastewaters from domestic, municipal and animal husbandry limiting direct utilization of such residues (Casteel et al., 2006). But overall microbial counts in the MSGW at the source of discharge were very low, without any

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the NSC, Taiwan, R.O.C. and Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, Taiwan, R.O.C. Singh S. is grateful for Taiwan Government scholarship.

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Short communicationImpacts of monosodium glutamate industrial wastewater on plant growth and soil characteristics

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Wastewater collection and characterization

Characteristics of the wastewater

Effect of wastewater on seed germination

Discussion and conclusion

Acknowledgements

Plant Sci.

Ecol. Eng.

Bioresour. Technol.

Ecol. Eng.

Process Biochem.

Ecol. Eng.

Ecol. Eng.

Cropping system effects on nitrogen removal, soil nitrogen, aggregate stability and subsequent corn grain yield

Agronomy J.

Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater

Determination of organic matter content in arid-zone soils using a simple loss-on-ignition method

Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal.

Nitrogen total

Short communication
Impacts of monosodium glutamate industrial wastewater on plant growth and soil characteristics