title: "Protein" Measurement in Biological Wastewater Treatment Systems: A Critical Evaluation.
abstract: Five commercially available assay kits were tested on the same protein sample with the addition of 17 different types of interfering substances typically found in the biological wastewater treatment, and a comparison of the use of these assays with 22 different protein and peptide samples is also presented. It was shown that a wide variety of substances can interfere dramatically with these assays; the metachromatic response was also clearly influenced by different proteinaceous material. Measurement of the "protein" content in the effluent of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor was then carried out using these assay methods. Quantitative results of the "protein" concentration in the different effluent samples, with or without spiked additions of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), showed considerable disagreement. We concluded that the "protein" measured in wastewater samples using standard colorimetric assays often shows false positive results and has little correlation to their real value. A new analytical method needs to be developed in order to gain greater insight into the biological transformations occurring in anaerobic digestion, and how soluble microbial products (SMPs) are produced.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Environmental Biotechnology Center, Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University , 1 Cleantech Loop, CleanTech One, Singapore 637141, Singapore.|Division of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University , 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Chencheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Le
authors.affiliation: Advanced Environmental Biotechnology Center, Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University , 1 Cleantech Loop, CleanTech One, Singapore 637141, Singapore.
authors.forename: Chinagarn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kunacheva
authors.affiliation: Advanced Environmental Biotechnology Center, Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University , 1 Cleantech Loop, CleanTech One, Singapore 637141, Singapore.|Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, U.K.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Stuckey
mesh_terms: D001671:Biochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D019149:Bioreactors; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000032:analysis; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D062065:Wastewater