A Novel Food Wastewater Treatment Approach: Developing a Sustainable Fungicide for Agricultural Use

Three wastewater sources, namely slaughterhouse wastewater, cheese whey, and wine lees, were used for volatile fatty acid (VFA) production with the aim of reducing polluted wastewater discharge to the water bodies and creating a useful product. Cheese whey and wine lees were proved to be good substr...

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Main Authors: Zikhona Tshemese, Laura Buzón-Durán, María Cruz García-González, Nirmala Deenadayalu, Beatriz Molinuevo-Salces
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Fermentation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5637/11/4/189
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author Zikhona Tshemese
Laura Buzón-Durán
María Cruz García-González
Nirmala Deenadayalu
Beatriz Molinuevo-Salces
author_facet Zikhona Tshemese
Laura Buzón-Durán
María Cruz García-González
Nirmala Deenadayalu
Beatriz Molinuevo-Salces
author_sort Zikhona Tshemese
collection DOAJ
description Three wastewater sources, namely slaughterhouse wastewater, cheese whey, and wine lees, were used for volatile fatty acid (VFA) production with the aim of reducing polluted wastewater discharge to the water bodies and creating a useful product. Cheese whey and wine lees were proved to be good substrates to produce VFAs, obtaining maximum bioconversion percentages in g COD-VFA/g TCOD initial of 90% and 72% for cheese whey and wine lees, respectively. The composition of the VFAs produced from each wastewater stream varied, with acetic, propionic, isobutyric, and isovaleric acids being the most dominant. These VFAs were used as an environmentally friendly fungicide against <i>Fusarium culmorum</i>, resulting in a reduction of the radial mycelial growth of <i>Fusarium culmorum</i> for all the effluents tested. A thermal pretreatment of the VFAs resulted in an improved antifungal efficiency if compared to the untreated VFAs or a UV pretreatment.
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series Fermentation
spelling doaj-art-38b3ce59ab1e457db9b56739ebc38c0b2025-08-20T02:17:24ZengMDPI AGFermentation2311-56372025-04-0111418910.3390/fermentation11040189A Novel Food Wastewater Treatment Approach: Developing a Sustainable Fungicide for Agricultural UseZikhona Tshemese0Laura Buzón-Durán1María Cruz García-González2Nirmala Deenadayalu3Beatriz Molinuevo-Salces4Department of Chemistry, Durban University of Technology, Steve Biko Campus, Durban 4001, South AfricaDepartment of Agroforestry Sciences, ETSIIAA, University of Valladolid, Avenida Madrid 44, 34004 Palencia, SpainDepartment of Agroforestry Sciences, ETSIIAA, University of Valladolid, Avenida Madrid 44, 34004 Palencia, SpainDepartment of Chemistry, Durban University of Technology, Steve Biko Campus, Durban 4001, South AfricaDepartment of Agroforestry Sciences, ETSIIAA, University of Valladolid, Avenida Madrid 44, 34004 Palencia, SpainThree wastewater sources, namely slaughterhouse wastewater, cheese whey, and wine lees, were used for volatile fatty acid (VFA) production with the aim of reducing polluted wastewater discharge to the water bodies and creating a useful product. Cheese whey and wine lees were proved to be good substrates to produce VFAs, obtaining maximum bioconversion percentages in g COD-VFA/g TCOD initial of 90% and 72% for cheese whey and wine lees, respectively. The composition of the VFAs produced from each wastewater stream varied, with acetic, propionic, isobutyric, and isovaleric acids being the most dominant. These VFAs were used as an environmentally friendly fungicide against <i>Fusarium culmorum</i>, resulting in a reduction of the radial mycelial growth of <i>Fusarium culmorum</i> for all the effluents tested. A thermal pretreatment of the VFAs resulted in an improved antifungal efficiency if compared to the untreated VFAs or a UV pretreatment.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5637/11/4/189volatile fatty acids (VFAs)wine leescheese whey<i>Fusarium culmorum</i>anaerobic digestion
spellingShingle Zikhona Tshemese
Laura Buzón-Durán
María Cruz García-González
Nirmala Deenadayalu
Beatriz Molinuevo-Salces
A Novel Food Wastewater Treatment Approach: Developing a Sustainable Fungicide for Agricultural Use
Fermentation
volatile fatty acids (VFAs)
wine lees
cheese whey
<i>Fusarium culmorum</i>
anaerobic digestion
title A Novel Food Wastewater Treatment Approach: Developing a Sustainable Fungicide for Agricultural Use
title_full A Novel Food Wastewater Treatment Approach: Developing a Sustainable Fungicide for Agricultural Use
title_fullStr A Novel Food Wastewater Treatment Approach: Developing a Sustainable Fungicide for Agricultural Use
title_full_unstemmed A Novel Food Wastewater Treatment Approach: Developing a Sustainable Fungicide for Agricultural Use
title_short A Novel Food Wastewater Treatment Approach: Developing a Sustainable Fungicide for Agricultural Use
title_sort novel food wastewater treatment approach developing a sustainable fungicide for agricultural use
topic volatile fatty acids (VFAs)
wine lees
cheese whey
<i>Fusarium culmorum</i>
anaerobic digestion
url https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5637/11/4/189
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