Abstract The increasing generation of oily effluents produced by dairy industries has posed a major environmental challenge, demanding sustainable alternatives to conventional treatment methods. In this context, the present study evaluated the production and application of lipase obtained from the aquatic yeast Apiotrichum mycotoxinivorans , cultivated under solid-state fermentation (SSF) using sunflower seeds as an agroindustrial substrate. The lipolytic activity was determined by alkaline titration, with an activity of 17.02 U g⁻ 1 after 72 h of fermentation. The fermented solid containing the enzyme was applied in the bioremediation of dairy effluent, resulting in reductions of 78.9% in oil and grease (O&G) and 58.6% in chemical oxygen demand (COD), as well as a natural correction of pH and turbidity. The results demonstrated the potential of SSF as a low-cost technology for obtaining biocatalysts and confirmed the efficiency of A. mycotoxinivorans lipase in the enzymatic pre-treatment of lipid-rich effluents. The proposed approach combined the use of non-conventional microorganisms and agroindustrial by-products in an environmentally friendly process, aligned with the principles of white biotechnology and the circular economy. Graphical Abstract
Carvalho et al. (Fri,) studied this question.