DEGRADATION OF CRUDE OIL BY FUNGAL STRAINS

Abstract

The dependence of modern world upon hydrocarbon derived from crude oil as a primary fuel and chemical feed stock, has resulted in transportation around the world, providing oppurtunity of spillage in addition to the normal burden of seepage into the environment. As a result of the growing concern about the pollution, of the ocean with mineral oil, numerous studies have appeared in the last decade .and are continuing to do so. The National Academy of Sciences (USA), in a recent assessment of the amount of oil discharged to the Sea as a result of man's activities put the total at 5 million tonnes per annum (mta). This is summarised in Table 1. The figure of 4.913 mta does not include unknown amounts from natural seepage occuring in the sea bed. Seepage potential can be related to geological criteria, as done by Wilson et al. (1974)who gave a figure of 0.6 mta as the best of various estimates of seepage ranging from 0.2 - 0.6 mta. The problem of soil pollution caused by all these sources drew the attention of scientific community towards it. Although this problem of oil pollution was taken by scientists way back in 1940's but due' to lack...of technology, sufficient knowledge of the problem was not possible at that time.