Comparative performance of non-white rot fungal stirred-tank and biofilm-based bioreactors for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment: kinetic modelling and scalability potential

Pharmaceutically active compound (PhAC) is poorly removed by conventional wastewater treatment, threatening aquatic ecosystems and human health through persistent bioaccumulation. To address this challenge, we evaluated two underutilized non-white rot fungi, Aspergillus eleand Cunninghamella elegans, in stirred-tank (STBR) and biofilm-based (BBR) bioreactors for removing fluoxetine (FLX), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and atorvastatin (ATO). A. flavus in STBR achieved exceptional removal (92–94% for all PhACs), with both STBR and BBR achieving statistically comparable pharmaceutical removal efficiencies (p > 0.05). While STBR excelled in targeted PhAC degradation, BBR better improved general wastewater quality, reducing chemical oxygen demand (COD) by 73.7% and total organic carbon (TOC) by 52.6%. Surprisingly, laccase activity showed no correlation with degradation, suggesting that intracellular enzymatic mechanisms may be responsible; cytochrome P450-mediated biotransformation is proposed as a hypothesis warranting future experimental validation. These results demonstrate that non-white rot fungi offer promising, energy-efficient alternatives for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment, with bioreactor choice dependent on prioritization of specific pollutant removal versus broad effluent polishing.

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