Adsorption of Congo Red dye on hazelnut shells and degradation with Phanerochaete chrysosporium

The present work concerns the experimental evaluation of hazelnut shells as a low cost natural biosorbent. Adsorption of the direct azo dye Congo Red was performed within a concentrations range of 50-5000 mg/L. Hazelnut shells were employed as organic support for Phanerochaete chrysosporium cultures to study the best cultural medium composition for the MnP production. The capability of Phanerochaete chrysosporium to take macronutrients as carbon and nitrogen from hazelnut shells was demonstrated. Cultures of Phanerochaete chrysosporium were carried out with hazelnut shells coming from Congo Red adsorption tests, showing that 43% of the adsorbed dye was degraded.