*Article Aspergillus oryzae* **Grown on Rice Hulls Used as an Additive for Pretreatment of Starch-Containing Wastewater from the Pulp and Paper Industry**

**Stefania Costa <sup>1</sup> , Daniela Summa <sup>2</sup> , Federico Zappaterra 2,\* , Riccardo Blo <sup>3</sup> and Elena Tamburini <sup>2</sup>**


**Abstract:** From an industrial point of view, the use of microorganisms as a wastewater bioremediation practice represents a sustainable and economic alternative for conventional treatments. In this work, we investigated the starch bioremediation of paper mill wastewater (PMW) with *Aspergillus oryzae*. This amylase-producing fungus was tested in submerged fermentation technology (SmF) and solidstate fermentation (SSF) on rice hulls. The tests were conducted to assay the concentration of the reducing sugars on paper mill wastewater. The bioremediation of starch in the wastewater was carried out by *A. oryzae*, which proved capable of growing in this complex media as well as expressing its amylase activity.

**Keywords:** *Aspergillus oryzae*; rice hull; paper mill wastewater; bioremediation; amylase; solid-state fermentation (SSF)
