PRODUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ECO ENZYME PRODUCED FROM TOMATO AND ORANGE WASTES AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE AQUACULTURE SLUDGE

Eco enzyme is a fermented solution from mixture of sugar, fruit wastes and water in the ratio of 1:3:10. It can be used as pretreatment for aquaculture sludge before other further treatments in order to minimize various environmental problems that caused by high nutrient contents of the sludge. In this study, the characteristics of the eco enzymes (tomato and orange wastes) were investigated and its potential efficacy of parameters removal within 10 days treatment was also evaluated. Results showed the enzymes were acidic, composed of high total solids (TS), total dissolved solids (TDS), biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), citric acids and contained biocatalytic enzyme activities which are protease, amylase and lipase. The enzymes were also showed a higher removal percentage of total suspended solids (TSS), volatile suspended solids (VSS), total phosphorus (TP), total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) and COD approximately 87%, 67%, 99%, 91% and 77% respectively in the optimum concentration of eco enzymes (10%). Besides, use of orange eco enzyme (OEE) was showed higher removal percentage compared to tomato eco enzyme (TEE) due to high organic acid contents. These findings may contribute to the effectiveness of enzymatic pretreatment which can reduce the inhibitors and improve further treatment processes in treating other industrial wastes.