PUMAKKAL AS A LOCAL INDIGENOUS BACTERIAL CONSORTIUM FOR PINEAPPLE WASTEWATER BIOREMEDIATION, ORGANIC WASTE VALORIZATION, AND CIRCULAR AGRICULTURE

Abstract

Pineapple-processing wastewater is generally acidic and contains high organic loads that may degrade environmental quality when discharged without adequate treatment. This article analyzes Pumakkal as a local microbial innovation based on an indigenous bacterial consortium derived from pineapple wastewater for bioremediation, organic waste valorization, and circular agriculture. This study employed an integrative review with a research-based innovation case synthesis by synthesizing laboratory, pilot-scale, limited-scale, ex situ, and applied studies on Pumakkal. The synthesis focused on indigenous bacterial isolation and characterization, consortium formulation, hydrolytic capacity, bioremediation performance based on pH, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, fish viability as a supporting bioindicator, and applications of Pumakkal in organic waste conversion. The findings show that Pumakkal was developed from 15 indigenous bacterial isolates with hydrolytic capacities toward organic substrates, particularly starch, protein, and lipids. The complete consortium improved pineapple wastewater quality by increasing pH toward near-neutral conditions and reducing biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, and total suspended solids under reported testing conditions. Fish bioindicator observations further suggest that bioremediated effluent has better relative biological compatibility than untreated wastewater. Pumakkal has also been applied to several organic wastes to produce nutrient-containing fertilizer materials, indicating its potential role in waste-to-resource transformation. The strongest evidence supports Pumakkal’s relevance to SDG 6 through wastewater quality improvement and SDG 12 through organic waste utilization, while its links to SDG 2 and SDG 4 are better read as downstream implications requiring further agronomic and educational validation. Broader implementation requires molecular identification, biosafety assessment, process standardization, field-scale validation, and long-term agronomic testing.