Abstract
The present research was taken to formulate bacterial consortium as whole cell biocatalyst for retting of dry jute ribbons. The bacteria were obtained from different sources of jute retting water, enriched on nutrient broth medium. Microbial consortium was constructed from 7 (seven) selected isolated bacteria to become 7 (seven) combination culture which exhibited remarkable retting efficacy due to the induction of different enzymes activities. The enzymatic as well as biochemical activity of these bacteria were tested. The strains were selected based on the criteria that they were able to display good zone of inhibition. Formulations showed good potential as candidates for microbial consortium. In the two combination treatment with water (5 ml), microbial consortia of (10DTW2b+OMPW4b), (10DTW2b+4DTW7b) and (OMEW4b+10DTW2b) were found better for all the cases. Again, in three combinations treatment with water (5 ml d.H2O), fineness, brightness and smoothness/softness, all were found higher in microbial consortia of (3PRRF5b+4DTF1b+10DTW2b), which is a unique findings. This research is on-going and need to optimize these consortiums with different parameters and also carry out retting analysis.