Phenol concentration was initially decreasing after some time its increasing in biological degradation process in batch experiments why?
What happens with the non-inoculated control? It may be due an initial adsorption to biomass and not a real degradation
In batch experiments, initial concentration was 250 mg/lit initially its decreasing to 2 mg/it but after 48 hrs its concentration is increasing to 50 mg/lit why?
Often in biodegradation assays, part of the compound to be tested is not really degraded but removed from the solution by sorption to the biomass or even uptake and accumulation. If the cells die or the pH and other physicochemical parameters change, the compound can come back into solution.
Try to analyse the biomass for phenol content. Take your sample as usual, filter and wash the cells on the filter with media with no phenol and then do an extraction with an organic solvent (you may need to research a bit about which one can suit your needs). Knowing the cell density and volume of the sample filtered plus the total volume you can easily calculate how much phenol can be attached to the cells
How do you determine the concentration of phenol? If you're using UV spec., then what you mentioned is most likely due to effect of the byproducts.
Mohammad Abu Haija how can one ensure that this byproduct are eliminated and the actual concentration of phenol in the sample detected using UV spec?
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