Photostabilization of Bacillus thuringiensis fermented wastewater and wastewater sludge based biopesticides using additives

Photoprotection (against UV-A and UV-B radiations) of the active components of Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki obtained from the fermentation of various culture media was investigated. The culture media comprised: starch industry wastewater; secondary wastewater sludge (non-hydrolyzed and hydrolyzed) and soya (used as a reference). Photoprotection was carried out by using various UV-protection additives, namely, para-aminobenzoic acid, lignosulfonic acid and molasses at different concentrations (0.1%, 0.15% and 0.2%, w/w). In the absence of UV-protection agents, secondary sludge demonstrated natural UV protection with half-lives ranging from 3.25 to 3.4 d. The half-life for soya and starch industry wastewater was 1.9 and 1.8 d, respectively. Para-amino-benzoic acid as a UV-protection agent at 0.20% (w/w) gave excellent UV-protection for soya and starch industry wastewater with half-lives being 5.9 and 7 cl, respectively. Likewise, lignosulfonic acid at 0.20% (w/w) was an effective photostabilizer for hydrolyzed and non-hydrolyzed secondary sludge with half-lives of 7.25 and 8 d, respectively. Hence, when similar concentration of the UV-protection additives was used, photoprotection was higher for the alternative media than the conventional soya medium, validating the technical feasibility of using three additives. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.