The coffee processing industry is one of the major agro-based industries contributing significantly in international and national growth. Coffee fruits are processed by two methods, wet and dry process. In wet processing, coffee fruits generate enormous quantities of high strength wastewater requiring systematic treatment prior to disposal. Different method approach is used to treat the wastewater. Many researchers have attempted to assess the efficiency of batch aeration as posttreatment of coffee processing wastewater from an upflow anaerobic hybrid reactor (UAHR)-continuous and intermittent aeration system. However, wet coffee processing requires a high degree of processing know-how and produces large amounts of effluents which have the potential to damage the environment. Characteristics of wastewater from coffee processing has a biological oxygen demand (BOD) of up to 20,000 mg/l and a chemical oxygen demand (COD) of up to 50,000 mg/l as well as the acidity of pH below 4. In this review paper, various methods are discussed to treat coffee processing wastewaters; the constitution of wastewater is presented and the technical solutions for wastewater treatment are discussed.

The objectives of this study are to diagnose and prevent environmental problems that threaten urban sustainability, the impact of changes in lifestyle (diet, domestic sanitation, and motorization), and production style (agriculture, industry, and services) with the rapid urbanization on regional nitrogen (N) flows, and the water environment was quantitatively evaluated. The megacity Shanghai was chosen as a case study to investigate the temporal changes in nitrogen flow during 1980–2008 by a multidisciplinary approach (a field survey, a regional nitrogen mass balance model, input-output analysis, etc.). Although the total potential nitrogen load in Shanghai has decreased in the 2000s and water pollution problems seem to have improved, the problem has shifted and expanded to affect a wider area through the food/product chain and water/air movement. Further effective solutions that aim at material cycles are necessary and have to be implemented on a large scale.

Atmospheric gaseous pollutants can induce qualitative and quantitative changes in airborne pollen characteristics. In this work, it was investigated the effects of carbon dioxide (CO₂) on Acer negundo pollen fertility, protein content, allergenic properties, and carbohydrates. Pollen was collected directly from the anthers and in vitro exposed to three CO₂levels (500, 1000, and 3000 ppm) for 6 and 24 h in an environmental chamber. Pollen fertility was determined using viability and germination assays, total soluble protein was determined with Coomassie Protein Assay Reagent, and the antigenic and allergenic properties were investigated by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and immunological techniques using patients’ sera. Also, pollen fructose, sucrose, and glucose values were determined. Carbon dioxide exposure affected negatively pollen fertility, total soluble protein content, and fructose content. The patient sera revealed increased IgE reactivity to proteins of A. negundo pollen exposed to increasing levels of the pollutant. No changes were detected in the SDS-PAGE protein profiles and in sucrose and glucose levels. Our results indicate that increase in atmospheric CO₂concentrations can have a negative influence of some features of A. negundo airborne pollen that can influence the reproductive processes as well as respiratory pollen allergies in the future.

Bioaerosol concentration was measured in wastewater treatment units in south of Tehran, the largest wastewater treatment plant in the Middle East. Active sampling was carried out around four operational units and a point as background. The results showed that the aeration tank with an average of 1016 CFU/m³ in winter and 1973 CFU/m³ in summer had the greatest effect on emission of bacterial bioaerosols. In addition, primary treatment had the highest impact on fungal emission. Among the bacteria, Micrococcus spp. showed the widest emission in the winter, and Bacillus spp. was dominant in summer. Furthermore, fungi such as Penicillium spp. and Cladosporium spp. were the dominant types in the seasons. Overall, significant relationship was observed between meteorological parameters and the concentration of bacterial and fungal aerosols.

Crude oil is a common environmental pollutant composed of a large number of both aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons. Biodegradation is carried out by microbial communities that are important in determining the fate of pollutants in the environment. The intrinsic biodegradability of the hydrocarbons and the distribution in the environment of competent degrading microorganisms are crucial information for the implementation of bioremediation processes. In the present study, the biodegradation capacities of various bacteria toward aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons were determined. The purpose of the study was to isolate and characterize hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria from contaminated soil of a refinery in Arzew, Algeria. A collection of 150 bacterial strains was obtained; the bacterial isolates were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and their ability to degrade hydrocarbon compounds characterized. The isolated strains were mainly affiliated to the Gamma-Proteobacteria class. Among them, Pseudomonas spp. had the ability to metabolize high molecular weight hydrocarbon compounds such as pristane (C19) at 35.11 % by strain LGM22 and benzo[a] pyrene (C20) at 33.93 % by strain LGM11. Some strains were able to grow on all the hydrocarbons tested including octadecane, squalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene. Some strains were specialized degrading only few substrates. In contrast, the strain LGM2 designated as Pseudomonas sp. was found able to degrade both linear and branched alkanes as well as low and high poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The alkB gene involved in alkane degradation was detected in LGM2 and other Pseudomonas-related isolates. The capabilities of the isolated bacterial strains to degrade alkanes and PAHs should be of great practical significance in bioremediation of oil-contaminated environments.

Renewable energy sources such as biomasses can play a pivotal role to ensure security of energy supply and reduce greenhouse gases through the substitution of fossil fuels. At present, bioenergy is mainly derived from cultivated crops that mirror the environmental impacts from the intensification of agricultural systems for food production. Instead, biomass from perennial herbaceous species growing in wetland ecosystems and marginal lands has recently aroused interest as bioenergy for electricity and heat, methane and 2nd-generation bioethanol. The aim of this paper is to assess, at local scale, the energy potential of wetland vegetation growing along the minor hydrographic network of a reclamation area in Northeast Italy, by performing energy scenarios for combustion, methane and 2nd-generation ethanol. The research is based on a cross-methodology that combines survey analyses in the field with a GIS-based approach: the former consists of direct measurements and biomass sampling, the latter of spatial analyses and scaling up simulations at the minor channel network level. Results highlight that biomass from riparian zones could represent a significant source of bioenergy for combustion transformation, turning the disposal problem to cut and store in situ wetland vegetation into an opportunity to produce sustainable renewable energy at local scale.

Biofiltration has been widely used to reduce organic matter and control the formation of disinfection by-products in drinking water. Backwashing might affect the biofilters’ performance and the attached microbiota on filter medium. In this study, the impacts of backwashing on the removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and N-nitrosamine precursors by a pilot-scale biological activated carbon (BAC) filtration system were investigated. The impacts of backwashing on biomass and microbial community structure of BAC biofilm were also investigated. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis showed that backwashing reduced nearly half of the attached biomass on granular activated carbon (GAC) particles, followed by a recovery to the pre-backwashing biomass concentration in 2 days after backwashing. Backwashing was found to transitionally improve the removal of DOC, DON and N-nitrosamine precursors. MiSeq sequencing analysis revealed that backwashing had a strong impact on the bacterial diversity and community structure of BAC biofilm, but they could gradually recover with the operating time after backwashing. Phylum Proteobacteria was the largest bacterial group in BAC biofilm. Microorganisms from genera Bradyrhizobium, Hyphomicrobium, Microcystis and Sphingobium might contribute to the effective removal of nitrogenous organic compounds by drinking water biofilter. This work could add some new insights towards the operation of drinking water biofilters and the biological removal of organic matter.

Fluorescein diacetate (FDA) is commonly used to determine the hydrolyzing activity of microbial organisms in the soil. However, the costs of chemical reagents and time required to perform routine analysis of large number of samples by soil testing laboratories are limiting. Moreover, existing methods generate significant volumes of hazardous waste. In this context, this study was designed to determine the minimum amount of terminating chemical reagent needed to evaluate microbial hydrolyzing activity. The results showed that 0.2 mL of chloroform was enough to effectively stop the hydrolyzing activity in soil. This proposed terminating chemical reagent (0.2 mL chloroform) was also evaluated by comparing with the 10 mL of chloroform and 5 mL of methanol used in the Adam and Duncan method.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a ubiquitous endocrine-disrupting chemical in the environment that exerts potential harm to plants. Phytohormones play important roles both in regulating multiple aspects of plant growth and in plants’ responses to environmental stresses. But how BPA affects plant growth by regulating endogenous hormones remains poorly understood. Here, we found that treatment with 1.5 mg L⁻¹ BPA improved the growth of soybean seedlings, companied by increases in the contents of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and zeatin (ZT), and decreases in the ratios of abscisic acid (ABA)/IAA, ABA/gibberellic acid (GA), ABA/ZT, ethylene (ETH)/GA, ETH/IAA, and ETH/ZT. Treatment with higher concentrations of BPA (from 3 to 96 mg L⁻¹) inhibited the growth of soybean seedlings, meanwhile, decreased the contents of IAA, GA, ZT, and ETH, and increased the content of ABA and the ratios of ABA/IAA, ABA/GA, ABA/ZT, ETH/GA, ETH/IAA, and ETH/ZT. The increases in the ratios of growth and stress hormones were correlated with the increase in the BPA content of the roots. Thus, BPA could affect plant growth through changing the levels of single endogenous hormone and the ratios of growth and stress hormones in the roots because of BPA absorption by the roots.